The heterodonty of Albertosaurus sarcophagus and Tyrannosaurus rex: biomechanical implications inferred through 3-D modelsThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Albertosaurus.
The objective of this study is to analyze how different crown morphologies and different root lengths respond to stresses generated by the bite forces of Albertosaurus sarcophagus and Tyrannosaurus rex. Six well-preserved teeth of A. sarcophagus from the Albertosaurus bonebed in Dry Island Park (southern Alberta) were selected to study their biomechanics, and T. rex teeth were included for comparison. The three-dimensional (3-D) models were obtained through computerized tomography (CT) scanning and 3-D digitizing. Finite element analyses were performed in Strand7®. Bite forces for Albertosaurus and Tyrannosaurus were calculated based on cranial and jaw proportions. The results were viewed with the Tresca yield criterion. The ratios of shear stresses observed along the mesio-distal versus labio-lingual axes of all models allows the identification of similar stress distribution patterns in the upper and lower jaws of Albertosaurus and the upper jaws of Tyrannosaurus, with a higher amount of shear along the ...