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T. rex may have had lips like a modern lizard’s

Like most reptiles, the dinosaurs could have kept their chompers hidden

An illustration of a Tyrannosaurus eating a smaller dinosaur with half of that dino's body visible.

A Tyrannosaurus engulfs a young Edmontosaurus with its huge, lipped mouth. Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus have long been portrayed as lipless, but new research suggests this wasn’t so.

Mark P. Witton

By Jake Buehler

In movies and TV shows, Tyrannosaurus rex often sports a fleet of big, sharp teeth that are almost always on display. But the dinosaurs and their kin may have kept their pearly whites mostly tucked behind lizardlike lips.