Usually such a valuable specimen is only prepared from the outside. As it was, we took the skull apart bone by bone to reveal many new structures and this specimen is the first Tarbosaurus that can be studied both from the inside and outside. The tools we used . Most scientists claim that the skull and lower jaw of tyrannosaurids were as loosely articulated as in varanoids and snakes today. This means that the flexibility allowed lateral flexion for increasing gape, or maybe it functioned to absorb, or soften, impact during biting.
Some scientists claim that the robustness of the skull and lower jaws gave a rigid crushing bite.
We hope to solve these questions when the descriptions and comparisons are completed in 2001. The crushing bite in tyrannosaurids. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The skull of Tarbosaurus bataar . The preparation The lower jaw was prepared in Poland in October 1998 and the skull was prepared in Norway in May 1999.