A bit dated but it flew under my radar- finally, evidence on what their mouths looked like!
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230330172120.htm
It’s reflected in the recent documentary Prehistoric Planet (I hope I got the name right). It’s a good series, though I feel like they could have been a bit more transparent about how much is creative liberty vs based on solid evidence (but to be fair they usually have a short segment afterwards with a bit of that).
I should watch that, I like how the vfx studio does creatures so it’s on my list. I’m surprised they got access to unpublished research though, it’s not impossible but if what you say it’s true then MPC really went the extra mile for it. I used to follow paleoartists a lot some 6 years ago or so and this topic would come up very often. To me, not showing teeth always made more sense but in this field you find a lot of unexpected surprises.
I wasn’t implying they got access to unpublished research. I just mean that when they construct such a vivid world with narrative and highly detailed recreations, much of it is inevitably artistic interpretation based on limited evidence. It would be helpful if they had narrated more on what parts of a presented depiction are based on actual findings so that people don’t walk away with misconceptions about what we know vs what might have been.
But instead they took a very immersive approach. Which is fine, they can do that. I personally would just have liked some scientific commentary while watching.
