{"id":557649,"date":"2026-03-24T14:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/557649\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:40:10","slug":"scientists-found-a-fossil-dinosaur-skull-like-no-other-hiding-a-tooth-deep-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/557649\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Found a Fossil Dinosaur Skull Like No Other, Hiding a Tooth Deep Inside"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, it looked like just another dinosaur fossil, but a closer inspection revealed something unexpected, something that shouldn\u2019t have been there. The specimen, an Edmontosaurus skull found in Montana\u2019s Hell Creek Formation, stands out for one striking reason: the tooth is still lodged deep in the bone. <\/p>\n

According to the study published in PeerJ, finds like this are extremely uncommon and allow scientists to observe behavior directly instead of just guessing from clues. Dinosaur ecology is usually pieced together from scattered evidence like isolated bones or bite marks. This fossil, now preserved at the Museum of the Rockies, changes that dynamic.<\/p>\n

A Fossil Tooth That Points Straight To T. Rex<\/p>\n

Figuring out which predator made a bite mark<\/a> is often tricky. Here, things are much clearer. The tooth embedded in the skull gave researchers a chance to study its shape, size, and serrations in detail. As noted Taia C. A. Wyenberg-Henzler<\/a>, a doctoral student at the University of Alberta:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough bite marks on bones are relatively common, finding an embedded tooth is extremely rare.\u201d She added, \u201cThe great thing about an embedded tooth, particularly in a skull, is it gives you the identity of not only who was bitten but also who did the biting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As stated by the study team, those features match Tyrannosaurus rex<\/a> from the same region. By comparing it with other known theropod fossils, they were able to rule out other carnivores.<\/p>\n

\"3d3D model rendering based on CT scan data. Credit: PeerJ<\/p>\n

CT scans also showed how the tooth entered the skull. The angle suggests a frontal strike strong enough to snap the tooth on impact. Based on the serrations, the team believes the attacker was an adult T. rex, pointing to a powerful and deliberate bite.<\/p>\n

A Moment Right At The Edge Of Death<\/p>\n

There are no signs that the wound healed, and that detail matters. John B. Scannella <\/a>from the Museum of the Rockies said this means the Edmontosaurus either died from the bite or was already dead when it occurred.<\/p>\n

\"SkullSkull with embedded tooth and associated tooth marks, showing location and orientation. Credit: PeerJ<\/p>\n

Both options are still on the table. Still, the location of the bite on the snout suggests a close and forceful encounter. This was not a distant or casual bite. It required direct contact and serious force. The fossil does not settle the long-running debate about whether T. rex was mainly a hunter or a scavenger. What it does show is a moment that looks a lot like a lethal or near-lethal interaction, captured in remarkable detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at the way the tooth is embedded in the nose of the\u00a0Edmontosaurus\u00a0suggests that it met its attacker face-to-face, something that usually happens to an animal that was killed by a predator,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Bite Marks That Show What Happened Next<\/p>\n

The fossil skull <\/a>also has several bite marks on both sides, behind the eye and along the lower jaw. These are areas rich in muscle in hadrosaurs like Edmontosaurus. As explained in the study<\/a>, this pattern matches feeding behavior seen in modern carnivores, which go for softer tissues after the initial attack. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeding habits of\u00a0Tyrannosaurus, one of the largest meat-eating animals to ever walk the Earth, have been the subject of study and debate for decades,\u201d Dr. Scannella explained.<\/p>\n

\"AA Tyrannosaurus rex attacking an adult Edmontosaurus. Credit: Jenn Hall\/Montana State University\/Museum of the Rockies<\/p>\n

The marks suggest the predator <\/a>kept feeding on the head afterward. The fact that only the skull remains adds another clue. It likely means the rest of the body had already been eaten or scattered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At first glance, it looked like just another dinosaur fossil, but a closer inspection revealed something unexpected, something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-557649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}