Tooth-on-tooth interlocking occlusion suggests macrophagy in the mesozoic marine crocodylomorph dakosaurus

The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology
Mark T YoungJulia B Desojo

Abstract

Metriorhynchidae was a peculiar but long-lived group of marine Mesozoic crocodylomorphs adapted to a pelagic lifestyle. Recent discoveries show that metriorhynchids evolved a wide range of craniodental morphotypes and inferred feeding strategies. One genus, Dakosaurus, is arguably the most aberrant marine crocodylomorph due to its large, robust, ziphodont teeth; very low tooth count; and brevirostrine/oreinirostral snout. We here report an additional unusual feature of Dakosaurus that is unique among marine crocodylomorphs: tightly fitting tooth-to-tooth occlusion, whose inference is supported by reception pits along the upper and lower tooth rows, indicative of vertically orientated crowns that were in close contact during occlusion, and three distinct types of dental wear. These include irregular spalled surfaces near the apex (probably caused by tooth-food contact), semi-circular wear near the base, and elongate surfaces extending along the mesial and distal margins of the teeth, obliterating the carinae (including the denticles). Scanning electron micrographs show that these latter surfaces are marked by parallel apicobasal striations, which in extant mammals reflect tooth-tooth contact. As such, we interpret the carinal we...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 14, 2020·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Nicolas SéonChristophe Lécuyer
Oct 27, 2016·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Stephen L BrusatteLawrence M Witmer
Mar 10, 2017·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Matthew R McCurryColin R McHenry
Sep 5, 2018·Nature Ecology & Evolution·Davide FoffaStephen L Brusatte
Jan 27, 2019·Scientific Reports·Eric W WilbergChristopher A Brochu
Apr 22, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Julia A SchwabStephen L Brusatte
Apr 2, 2017·Journal of Biomechanics·M R McCurryC R McHenry

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