Tongue-tied T. rex offers insight into evolution of birds

WASHINGTON - Chinese and US researchers have found that Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs could not stick out their tongues, contrary to their classic image in films where they bare their teeth with tongues wildly reaching from their mouths like giant, deranged lizards.

In a study published on Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers suggested that many dinosaurs' tongues were probably rooted to the bottoms of their mouths in a manner akin to alligators.

The team led by Li Zhiheng, associate professor at the Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, compared the tongue bones of extinct dinosaurs and modern specimens, including three alligators and 13 bird species as diverse as ostriches and ducks.