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Did dinosaurs have lips?

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    #2
    Rubecula
    Registered Users Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    No idea what to think how many species were there? how many species today have lips?


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    #3
    EoghanIRL
    Registered Users Posts: 4,080 ✭✭✭EoghanIRL


    Rubecula wrote: »
    No idea what to think how many species were there? how many species today have lips?

    Many mammals have lips to allow for suckling of the nipple during infant years.


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    #4
    Adam Khor
    Registered Users Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    But dinosaurs did not suckle...

    The problem seems to be that modern dinosaur relatives (crocodiles) and descendants (birds) have no lips, but because they're both specialized (the crocodiles as aquatic predators with interlocking teeth to catch fish, and the birds with hard keratinous beaks or rhamphoteca), they don´t necessarily prove that dinosaurs lacked them as well...


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    #5
    EoghanIRL
    Registered Users Posts: 4,080 ✭✭✭EoghanIRL


    Are there any major disadvantages to dinosaurs not having lips?

    It might be harder to retain food / saliva in the oral cavity but don't see this as being a major problem.

    I think dinosaurs are polyphyodonts so they could just regrow damaged teeth.

    Glands in the lip are only minor and wouldn't play a major role I'd imagine.

    Can't see any major advantage to dinosaurs having lips.


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    #6
    Adam Khor
    Registered Users Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    I think (not sure) but I think the idea is that lips would prevent dehydration and protect the dinosaur from self injury, like in Komodo dragons- we know they have lots of sharp serrated teeth but they're not very evident even when their mouth is open; there's lots of soft tissue surrounding and protecting the teeth.

    sp2027-3c2d66f7.jpg

    Raja-Ampats-famed-Komodo-Dragon.jpg

    Same with snakes, like pythons, they actually have lots of sharp teeth but the lips and soft tissue in the mouth cover most of them:

    wildlife09050.jpg

    giantpython.jpg


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