(Image credit: WitmerLab, Ohio University) In both cases, tearing flesh from carcasses involved grasping meat with the jaws and tugging back and up with the neck and body. A study by researchers at Ohio University found that the Allosaurus had a feeding style similar to falcons. 'If the muscle on one side contracts, it would turn the head in that direction, but if the muscles on both sides pull, it pulls the head straight back.'Ī modern-day kestrel (a small falcon) is perched atop the skull of the dinosaur Allosaurus in this illustration. 'This neck muscle acts like a rider pulling on the reins of a horse's bridle,' Snively explained. rex, this neck muscle stretches from the side of the neck to a bony structure on the back outer corners of the skull, the researchers said. In most other predatory dinosaurs, including the T. In the process of building these neck and jaw muscles, air sinuses, and other soft tissues, the researchers found an unusually placed neck muscle, called longissimus capitis superficialis. The researchers worked with anatomists to 're-flesh' their 3D Allosaurus computer model.

'We can then simulate the physics and predict what Allosaurus was actually capable of doing.' 'The engineering approach combines all the biological data - things like where the muscle forces attach and where the joints stop motion - into a single model,' study co-author John Cotton, a mechanical engineer and assistant professor in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University, said in a statement. By combining dinosaur anatomy with mechanical engineering and computer visualization, the researchers were able to experiment with how the Allosaurus attacked prey, fed, or simply looked around. To study the dinosaur's feeding technique, Snively and his colleagues ran sophisticated computer simulations of an Allosaurus' head and neck movements using a high-resolution cast of the dinosaur's skull and neck, plus CT scans of its bones.

Allosaurus vs t rex