[dinosaur] Sauropod teeth from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:


Gabriele Bindellini  & Cristiano Dal Sasso (2019)
Sauropod teeth from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, and the oldest
record of Titanosauriformes.
Papers in Palaeontology (advance online publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1002_spp2.1282&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=hI4qk2fTCH1daz0kpu7tqf76a7PJU8AFbDO2IOlrhKY&s=dmYN0GXAkVXZpsb7tf7A7zQvtiz9fLl0eu8nBVl23QA&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__onlinelibrary.wiley.com_doi_10.1002_spp2.1282&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=hI4qk2fTCH1daz0kpu7tqf76a7PJU8AFbDO2IOlrhKY&s=S9dwCQUWGoeDGScnKhboXAUrRcYGm8FYbJe-qH1HJSA&e= 


Here we describe 31 fossil teeth, deposited in the palaeontological
collections of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano (MSNM), that come
from the inland portion of the Mahajanga Basin, NW Madagascar, namely from
the Sakahara Formation (classically known as Isalo IIIb subunit), which is
dated to the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic. Based on detailed
morphological characters, the eight morphotypes recognized herein are
tentatively referred to four sauropod taxa: Archaeodontosaurus descouensi,
'Bothriospondylus madagascariensis', Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis and
an indeterminate specialized eusauropod, which may represent a new species
and provides the first evidence of a Bathonian diplodocoid in Madagascar.
The identification of the teeth is corroborated by comparative examination
of morphometric data. We provide evidence that Titanosauriformes were
present in the Bathonian, on the basis of seven specimens referable to this
clade. We also discuss in detail some dental characters that support the
existence of a clear niche partitioning between the abovementioned taxa
that co‐existed in the Malagasy Middle Jurassic terrestrial ecosystem. We
hypothesize, for the first time, a direct correlation between the pattern
drawn on the tooth crown by the enamel wrinkles and the feeding ecology of
sauropod dinosaurs. The enamel wrinkles probably played a structural
function: coarse wrinkles were associated with a diet composed mainly of
hard foodstuff, whereas fainter wrinkles, which appeared in more derived
morphologies, were associated with a diet composed of softer foodstuff.

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