The functional and palaeoecological implications of tooth morphology and wear for the megaherbivorous dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada

Megaherbivorous dinosaurs were exceptionally diverse on the Late Cretaceous island continent of Laramidia, and a growing body of evidence suggests that this diversity was facilitated by dietary niche partitioning. We test this hypothesis using the fossil megaherbivore assemblage from the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta as a model. Comparative tooth morphology and wear, including the first use of quantitative dental microwear analysis in the context of Cretaceous palaeosynecology, are used to infer the mechanical properties of the foods these dinosaurs consumed. The phylliform teeth of ankylosaurs were poorly adapted for habitually processing high-fibre plant matter. Nevertheless, ankylosaur diets were likely more varied than traditionally assumed: the relatively large, bladed teeth of nodosaurids would have been better adapted to processing a tougher, more fibrous diet than the smaller, cusp-like teeth of ankylosaurids. Ankylosaur microwear is characterized by a pre...

晚白垩世时期，拉拉米迪亚（Laramidia）古陆的巨型植食恐龙类群具有极高的物种多样性，且越来越多的研究证据表明，这种多样性得益于摄食生态位分化（dietary niche partitioning）。本研究以加拿大阿尔伯塔省坎潘阶晚期恐龙公园组的巨型植食恐龙化石组合为研究对象，对该假说进行验证。研究通过比较牙齿形态与磨耗特征——包括首次在白垩纪古群落生态学研究框架下应用定量牙齿微磨耗分析方法——来推断这些恐龙所摄食物的机械特性。甲龙类的叶状牙齿并不适配常规采食高纤维植物的进食需求。尽管如此，甲龙类的食谱可能比此前学界的认知更为多样：相较于甲龙科较小的齿尖状牙齿，结节龙科相对宽大的刃状牙齿更适于采食韧性更强、纤维更粗的食物。甲龙类的牙齿微磨耗特征以……为典型特征。