COMPARISON OF FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY IN APPALACHIOSAURUS AND ALBERTOSAURUS WITH IMPLICATIONS ON ARM LENGTH AND FEEDING BEHAVIORS

Appalachiosaurus has been the object of much debate since its discovery due to a discrepancy in arm length and digit number. Whether or not it retained basal features well into the Cretaceous, while others lost them, is still unknown. However, due to similarities between Appalachiosaurus and Albertosaurus libratus, it may have lost the long arms. In order to assess how similar Appalachiosaurus and Albertosaurus libratus are, their functional morphology was compared with emphasis on bite force, velocity, dentition, and skull construction with implications on arm length and possible feeding behaviors. It was found that despite their skeletal similarities and velocities, they likely filled two different ecological niches which may or may not have influenced a possible retention of basal features in Appalachiosaurus.