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. 2009 Jul 7;106(27):11194-9.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0812631106. Epub 2009 Jun 29.

Quantitative analysis of dental microwear in hadrosaurid dinosaurs, and the implications for hypotheses of jaw mechanics and feeding

Affiliations

Quantitative analysis of dental microwear in hadrosaurid dinosaurs, and the implications for hypotheses of jaw mechanics and feeding

Vincent S Williams et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Understanding the feeding mechanisms and diet of nonavian dinosaurs is fundamental to understanding the paleobiology of these taxa and their role in Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems. Various methods, including biomechanical analysis and 3D computer modeling, have been used to generate detailed functional hypotheses, but in the absence of either direct observations of dinosaur feeding behavior, or close living functional analogues, testing these hypotheses is problematic. Microscopic scratches that form on teeth in vivo during feeding are known to record the relative motion of the tooth rows to each other during feeding and to capture evidence of tooth-food interactions. Analysis of this dental microwear provides a powerful tool for testing hypotheses of jaw mechanics, diet, and trophic niche; yet, quantitative analysis of microwear in dinosaurs has not been attempted. Here, we show that analysis of tooth microwear orientation provides direct evidence for the relative motions of jaws during feeding in hadrosaurid ornithopods, the dominant terrestrial herbivores of the Late Cretaceous. Statistical testing demonstrates that Edmontosaurus teeth preserve 4 distinct sets of scratches in different orientations. In terms of jaw mechanics, these data indicate an isognathic, near-vertical posterodorsal power stroke during feeding; near-vertical jaw opening; and propalinal movements in near anterior and near posterior directions. Our analysis supports the presence of a pleurokinetic hinge, and the straightness and parallelism of scratches indicate a tightly controlled occlusion. The dominance of scratched microwear fabrics suggests that Edmontosaurus was a grazer rather than a browser.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Microwear in Edmontosaurus. (A) Orientation of functional surfaces (wear facets) on teeth, in approximate life orientation; diagrams below show these same 4 functional surfaces oriented with tips upward and viewed perpendicular to the occlusal plane. (B) Right maxilla, specimen NHM R3638, anterior to left. Vector plots indicate mean scratch orientation and relative length for each of the 4 classes in 10 teeth, line weight proportional to number of scratches. (C) Mean orientations for each class of scratches in each of the 10 teeth; for each class, the mean of the mean orientations with 99% confidence interval is shown. Dashed lines lie outside the confidence interval. (D) Second tooth from posterior (box in B). Vector plots indicate mean scratch orientation and relative length for each of the 4 classes in 11 sites, line weight proportional to number of scratches. Gray boxes show sites sampled for transect data (Fig. S1): 1 toward tip, 6 toward base; site 7 more basal than field of view shown. (E) One of the sampled areas (black box in D); diagonal lower right shows feature markup from Microware 4.0.2. (F) Mean orientations for each class of scratches in each of the 11 sites; for each class, the mean of the mean orientations with 99% confidence interval is also shown. Dashed lines lie outside the confidence interval.

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