First application of dental microwear texture analysis to infer theropod feeding ecology
First application of dental microwear texture analysis to infer theropod feeding ecology
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DOI：
10.1111/pala.12632
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发表时间：
2022-11
期刊：
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
D. Winkler;T. Kubo;Mugino O. Kubo;T. Kaiser;T. Tütken
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Winkler;T. Kubo;Mugino O. Kubo;T. Kaiser;T. Tütken
兽脚类是侏罗纪和白垩纪陆地生态系统中的主要顶端捕食者。它们的摄食生态学一直受到极大的关注，新的计算方法已经产生了更详细的兽脚类动物摄食行为差异的重建。然而，许多方法依赖于保存完好的头骨。牙齿微磨损纹理（DMT）分析是潜在的适用于孤立的牙齿，并在这里首次调查兽脚类动物的饮食生态学。特别是，我们测试了与异特龙相比，龙类是否表现出DMT与更多的硬物进食有关;这将是更高水平的食骨症的迹象，正如人们经常提出的那样。我们没有发现显着差异的复杂性和粗糙度的釉质表面之间的异特龙和暴龙科，这与更频繁的噬骨行为的推论相冲突的暴龙相比，其他兽脚类恐龙。磨损特征的方向揭示了异特龙类的双向穿刺和拉动进食模式比龙类更明显。我们的研究结果进一步表明个体发生的生态位转移的兽脚亚目和鳄鱼，根据显着较大的高度参数在少年兽脚亚目，这可能表明频繁的清除，导致更多的骨齿接触在进食过程中。总的来说，DMT被发现在兽脚亚目和现存的大型宽吻鳄类之间非常相似，并且在整个侏罗纪和白垩纪的兽脚亚目顶端捕食者的摄食生态中表现出极大的相似性。
Theropods were the dominating apex predators in most Jurassic and Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems. Their feeding ecology has always been of great interest, and new computational methods have yielded more detailed reconstructions of differences in theropod feeding behaviour. Many approaches, however, rely on well‐preserved skulls. Dental microwear texture (DMT) analysis is potentially applicable to isolated teeth, and here employed for the first time to investigate dietary ecology of theropods. In particular, we test whether tyrannosaurids show DMT associated with more hard‐object feeding than compared to Allosaurus; this would be a sign for higher levels of osteophagy, as has often been suggested. We find no significant difference in complexity and roughness of enamel surfaces between Allosaurus and tyrannosaurids, which conflicts with inferences of more frequent osteophagic behaviour in Tyrannosaurus as compared to other theropods. Orientation of wear features reveals a more pronounced bi‐directional puncture‐and‐pull feeding mode in Allosaurus than in tyrannosaurids. Our results further indicate ontogenetic niche shift in theropods and crocodylians, based on significantly larger height parameters in juvenile theropods which might indicate frequent scavenging, resulting in more bone–tooth contact during feeding. Overall, DMT is found to be very similar between theropods and extant large, broad‐snouted crocodylians and shows great similarity in feeding ecology of theropod apex predators throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous.