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Large carnivorous dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, evolved smaller eyes to help them bite more firmly. That’s what scientists from the University of Birmingham think.
By Lennart ‘t HartThe researchers compared the orbits of 410 different dinosaurs. Over the years, large dinosaurs, like T. rex, developed smaller and smaller eye sockets. It was due to evolution.
Meat-eating dinosaurs had large, bulbous eyes, according to the discovery of ancient skulls. Specimens that lived later had keyhole-shaped eye sockets. The eyes were up to seven times smaller. Herbivores kept their eye sockets round.
The researchers used computer simulations to determine the pressure exerted on the eyes when biting. They compared a large-eyed T. rex skull with a small-eyed T. rex skull.
Biting is more important than looking
Bite simulations showed that keyhole-shaped sockets deformed less than circular sockets. The pinhole-shaped eye sockets helped the dinosaur better distribute the bite force to the strongest part of the skull, namely the part behind the eye socket.
T. rex swapped its large eyes for smaller ones so it could bite more powerfully, scientists believe. But that was probably to the detriment of his eyesight.
The research was published in the scientific journal Communications Biology.
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