Journal
PEERJ
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PEERJ INC
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12361
Keywords
Sauropod; Tooth replacement rate; Early Cretaceous; Ruyang Basin; Henan
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41688103, 41872021, 41702021]
- Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDB26000000]
- UCCL Grant, Universities' China Committee in London
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The study reports the discovery of an early diverging somphospondylan sauropod mandible in the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province, China, with a tooth replacement rate of 76 days, intermediate between that of Brachiosaurus and typical late diverging lithostrotian titanosaurians.
Tooth replacement rate is an important feature related to feeding mechanics and food choices for dinosaurs. However, only a few data points are available for sauropod dinosaurs, partially due to rarity of relevant fossil material. Four somphospondylan sauropod species have been recovered from the Lower Cretaceous Aptian-Albian Haoling Formation in the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province of central China, but no cranial material has been reported except for a single crown. Here we report the discovery of the rostral portion of a left dentary with replacement teeth in its first five alveoli. Comparative anatomical study shows the partial dentary can be assigned to a member of early diverging somphospondylans. The non-destructive tooth length-based approach to estimating tooth formation time and replacement rate is adopted here. The estimated tooth replacement rate is 76 days, faster than that of Brachiosaurus (83 days) and much lower than typical late diverging lithostrotian titanosaurians (20 days). Thus, this discovery adds an intermediate tooth replacement rate in the evolution of titanosauriform sauropods and supports the idea that evolution of tooth replacement rate is Glade-specific. This discovery also provides more information to understand the Ruyang sauropod assemblage, which includes one of the most giant dinosaurs to have walked our Earth (Ruyangosaurus giganteus).
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