First application of dental microwear texture analysis to infer theropod feeding ecology

Abstract

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

Functional morphology of the Triassic apex predator Saurosuchus galilei (Pseudosuchia: Loricata) and convergence with a post‐Triassic theropod dinosaur

“…Similar inferences are possible for extinct taxa such as theropod dinosaurs (Sakamoto, 2010). Late Cretaceous tyrannosaurids, for example, are infamous for exhibiting higher degrees of osteophagy relative to other theropods based on extremely high predicted bite forces from biomechanical models, heavily worn teeth and bone‐rich coprolites (Chin et al, 1998; Gignac & Erickson, 2017; Rayfield, 2004, 2005; Sakamoto, 2010; Schubert & Ungar, 2005; Snively & Russell, 2007; but see Winkler et al, 2022). Allosaurids, in contrast, had weaker bite forces than tyrannosaurids based on biomechanical models and instead are inferred as employing a “strike‐and‐tear” technique aided by strong ventroflexive cervical musculature to procure and consume prey with relatively fewer tooth–bone interactions (Montefeltro et al, 2020; Rayfield et al, 2001; Snively et al, 2013).…”

Mandible microwear texture analysis of crickets raised on diets of different abrasiveness reveals universality of diet-induced wear

“…Because of the large number of available parameters, and the high degree of correlation between parameters [ 42 ], we concentrate on four height and complexity parameters. These have shown high discriminatory power between different diet groups in previous studies for both mammals [ 12 , 38 , 40 ] and non-mammalian vertebrates [ 29 , 34 , 36 ], and represent key features of the surface topography. Additionally, these parameters stem from different surface texture parameter standards that are commonly employed in DMTA studies: ISO 25178 ( Sq , Sdr ), furrows ( metf ) and SSFA ( Asfc ).…”

“…Thus, diets consisting of a comparable base matrix but of different inherent abrasiveness were created. To quantify mandible wear, we adapted dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), a method originally developed for mammals and extended to diverse non-mammalian species, including lepidosaurs [29,30], bony fish [31], sharks [32,33], alligators [34] and dinosaurs [35][36][37]. DMTA quantifies microscopic wear patterns (topography) of enamel wear facets.…”