Here's some dinosaur news for your Thursday. Scientists recently discovered sensitive skin on T-Rex noses, indicating that the massive beasts were in fact "sensitive lovers," as The Guardian so aptly put it. Due to certain size constraints, the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex was unable to, say, take a mate into his arms. Instead, he was left with his nose, which out-extended his arms, to perform such "pre-copulatory play," as the scientists said. So, according to the study, T-Rexes got up in each other's faces, rubbed their noses around, and were thus aroused, given the sensitive nature of the skin there. (Love may or may not have had anything to do with it.)
All this is based off the recent discovery of a preserved face of Daspletosaurus horneri, a T-Rex family member that predated it by 74 million years. While D horneri had hard, mask-like faces made of sturdy scales, their snouts featured small nerve openings, likely making them highly sensitive for use as a third hand. It is likely that millions of years later, tyrannosaurs has that "super-sensitive skin" as well, the researchers said.
Similar nerve endings are found in crocodiles and alligators today, which means we can make the logical assumption that those reptiles—including this massive alligator taking a stroll through the park, and this other massive alligator terrorizing a golf course—are also "sensitive lovers."
