Recent Research Shows Tyrannosaur Fighting Technique

Part of paleoart is representing the various behaviors of prehistoric animals. Now, this aspect of paleoart often requires a bit of speculation. On the other hand, there is often information found in the fossil remains of prehistoric life forms to give us clues about aspects of their behavior.

Recent research regarding facial scars on tyrannosaur skull and jaw bones has shown that face biting was likely a prominent aggressive behavior among tyrannosaurs and maybe other predatory dinosaurs. This behavior seems to have been common among tyrannosaurs that had reached full maturity, and was probably used during disputes over territory, food, status, and mating rights.

I had been a bit “out of the groove” lately, so I got back in gear by doing a small illustration of a male Teratophoneus biting the face of a rival male. Teratophoneus was a genus of tyrannosaur containing a single species that lived in the Western United States during the Late Cretaceous time period.