Data from: 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 preponderance of pits and scratches, akin to modern mixed feeders, but offers no support for interspecific dietary differences. The shearing tooth batteries of ceratopsids are much better adapted to high-fibre herbivory, attested by their scratch-dominated microwear signature. There is tentative microwear evidence to suggest differences in the feeding habits of centrosaurines and chasmosaurines, but statistical support is not significant. The tooth batteries of hadrosaurids were capable of both shearing and crushing functions, suggestive of a broad dietary range. Their microwear signal overlaps broadly with that of ankylosaurs, and suggests possible dietary differences between hadrosaurines and lambeosaurines. Tooth wear evidence further indicates that all forms considered here exhibited some degree of masticatory propaliny. Our findings reveal that tooth morphology and wear exhibit different, but complimentary, dietary signals that combine to support the hypothesis of dietary niche partitioning. The inferred mechanical and dietary patterns appear constant over the 1.5 Myr timespan of the Dinosaur Park Formation megaherbivore chronofauna, despite continual species turnover.

晚白垩世的拉里米迪亚（Laramidia）岛屿古陆上，巨型植食恐龙类群展现出极高的物种多样性；越来越多的研究证据表明，该类多样性得益于食性生态位分化。
本研究以加拿大阿尔伯塔省恐龙公园组（上坎潘阶）的巨型植食恐龙化石组合为研究模型，对该假说进行验证。本研究通过比较牙齿形态与磨损特征——包括首次在白垩纪古群落生态学（palaeosynecology）框架下应用定量牙齿微磨痕分析技术——来推断这些恐龙所取食食物的力学特性。
甲龙类（ankylosaurs）的叶状牙齿并不适于长期处理高纤维植物组织；尽管如此，甲龙类的食性可能比以往认知更为多样：相较于甲龙科（ankylosaurids）小型的齿尖状牙齿，结节龙科（nodosaurids）相对宽大的刃状牙齿更适于处理韧性更强、纤维更丰富的食物。甲龙类的牙齿微磨痕以凹坑与刮痕为主，与现代混合食性动物的磨痕特征相似，但未发现种间食性差异的相关证据。
角龙类（ceratopsids）的剪切式齿列更适于高纤维植食性进食，其以刮痕为主导的牙齿微磨痕特征可印证这一适应性。现有微磨痕证据仅能初步推断尖角龙亚科（centrosaurines）与开角龙亚科（chasmosaurines）的取食习性存在差异，但该差异未达到统计学显著性水平。
鸭嘴龙科（hadrosaurids）的齿列兼具剪切与研磨功能，表明其食性范围较广；其微磨痕特征与甲龙类存在广泛重叠，同时也暗示鸭嘴龙亚科（hadrosaurines）与赖氏龙亚科（lambeosaurines）之间可能存在食性差异。
牙齿磨损特征还表明，本研究所涉及的全部恐龙类群均存在一定程度的咀嚼前伸运动（masticatory propaliny）。
本研究结果显示，牙齿形态与磨损特征虽各有侧重，但可相互补充，共同为食性生态位分化假说提供支撑。尽管恐龙公园组巨型植食恐龙组合的演化时间跨度达1.5百万年，且期间不断发生物种更替，但所推断的食物力学特性与食性模式始终保持稳定。