[dinosaur] Tritylodontid (Synapsida) diets from tooth wear analysis (free pdf)

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper in open access:

Daniela C. Kalthoff,  Ellen Schulz-Kornas,  Ian Corfe,  Thomas Martin,
 Stephen McLoughlin &  Julia A. Schultz (2019)
Complementary approaches to tooth wear analysis in Tritylodontidae
(Synapsida, Mammaliamorpha) reveal a generalist diet.
PLoS ONE 14(7): e0220188.
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1371_journal.pone.0220188&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=Fx2E8A_OMtLdhuKNLXDpvSd5YoHW2kj3caZKZ-ACwKE&s=fq0KSKxiK4ZCudcvFUjWt1WIsBKzBDCwDChZV9CZ-1E&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__journals.plos.org_plosone_article-3Fid-3D10.1371_journal.pone.0220188&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=Fx2E8A_OMtLdhuKNLXDpvSd5YoHW2kj3caZKZ-ACwKE&s=lG20dUu8k1Ilu7OUzCZMzB3z70i7_QtUbHTvmSJbsSM&e= 

Free pdf:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__journals.plos.org_plosone_article_file-3Fid-3D10.1371_journal.pone.0220188-26type-3Dprintable&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=Fx2E8A_OMtLdhuKNLXDpvSd5YoHW2kj3caZKZ-ACwKE&s=gHXrOyZkavQ9NP5A65RMsY1CITWQKTtP2TxYi6Fb3E8&e= 

Stereoscopic microwear and 3D surface texture analyses on the cheek teeth
of ten Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous tritylodontid (Mammaliamorpha)
taxa of small/medium to large body size suggest that all were generalist
feeders and none was a dietary specialist adapted to herbivory. There was
no correspondence between body size and food choice. Stereomicroscopic
microwear analysis revealed predominantly fine wear features with numerous
small pits and less abundant fine scratches as principal components. Almost
all analyzed facets bear some coarser microwear features, such as coarse
scratches, large pits, puncture pits and gouges pointing to episodic
feeding on harder food items or exogenous effects (contamination of food
with soil grit and/or dust), or both. 3D surface texture analysis indicates
predominantly fine features with large void volume, low peak densities, and
various stages of roundness of the peaks. We interpret these features to
indicate consumption of food items with low to moderate intrinsic
abrasiveness and can exclude regular rooting, digging or caching behavior.
Possible food items include plant vegetative parts, plant reproductive
structures (seeds and seed-bearing organs), and invertebrates (i.e.,
insects). Although the tritylodontid tooth morphology and auto-occlusion
suggest plants as the primary food resource, our results imply a wider
dietary range including animal matter.

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