Mechanical Factors in the Design of the Skull of Tyrannosaurus rex (Osborn, 1905).

Mechanical analyses, borrowed from mechanical engineering, suggest that the Skull of Tyrannosaurus rex (Osborn, 1905) was constructed to resist strong, more or less vertically-directed forces during biting. Space frame analysis indicates that the skull structure was stable under a plausible regime of forces impressed during biting and supporting the weight of the head. Trajectory analysis suggests…