Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Ecological signal in the size and shape of marine amniote teeth
Fischer, V.; Bennion, R.F.; Foffa, D.; MacLaren, J.A.; McCurry, M.R.; Melstrom, K.M.; Bardet, N. (2022). Ecological signal in the size and shape of marine amniote teeth. Proc. - Royal Soc., Biol. Sci. 289(1982): 20221214. https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1214
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. The Royal Society: London. ISSN 0962-8452; e-ISSN 1471-2954, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
Author keywords
    high-density morphometrics; marine reptiles; Cetacea; feeding guilds; palaeoecology

Authors  Top 
  • Fischer, V., more
  • Bennion, R.F., more
  • Foffa, D.
  • MacLaren, J.A., more
  • McCurry, M.R.
  • Melstrom, K.M.
  • Bardet, N.

Abstract
    Amniotes have been a major component of marine trophic chains from the beginning of the Triassic to present day, with hundreds of species. However, inferences of their (palaeo)ecology have mostly been qualitative, making it difficult to track how dietary niches have changed through time and across clades. Here, we tackle this issue by applying a novel geometric morphometric protocol to three-dimensional models of tooth crowns across a wide range of raptorial marine amniotes. Our results highlight the phenomenon of dental simplification and widespread convergence in marine amniotes, limiting the range of tooth crown morphologies. Importantly, we quantitatively demonstrate that tooth crown shape and size are strongly associated with diet, whereas crown surface complexity is not. The maximal range of tooth shapes in both mammals and reptiles is seen in medium-sized taxa; large crowns are simple and restricted to a fraction of the morphospace. We recognize four principal raptorial guilds within toothed marine amniotes (durophages, generalists, flesh cutters and flesh piercers). Moreover, even though all these feeding guilds have been convergently colonized over the last 200 Myr, a series of dental morphologies are unique to the Mesozoic period, probably reflecting a distinct ecosystem structure.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors