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.2016 May 6;2(5):e1501659.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1501659. eCollection 2016 May.

The earliest herbivorous marine reptile and its remarkable jaw apparatus

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The earliest herbivorous marine reptile and its remarkable jaw apparatus

Li Chun et al. Sci Adv..

Abstract

Newly discovered fossils of the Middle Triassic reptile Atopodentatus unicus call for a radical reassessment of its feeding behavior. The skull displays a pronounced hammerhead shape that was hitherto unknown. The long, straight anterior edges of both upper and lower jaws were lined with batteries of chisel-shaped teeth, whereas the remaining parts of the jaw rami supported densely packed needle-shaped teeth forming a mesh. The evidence indicates a novel feeding mechanism wherein the chisel-shaped teeth were used to scrape algae off the substrate, and the plant matter that was loosened was filtered from the water column through the more posteriorly positioned tooth mesh. This is the oldest record of herbivory within marine reptiles.

Keywords: Atopodentatus unicus; Middle Triassic; marine reptiles; paleontology.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Prepared skulls referred to the Middle Triassic marine reptileA. unicus.
(A) IVPP V20291 exposed in dorsal view. (B) IVPP V20292 exposed in ventral view. Scale bar, 2.0 cm. [Photo Credit: W. Gao, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Interpretative drawings of the skulls ofA. unicus.
(A) IVPP V20291 in dorsal view. (B) IVPP V20292 in ventral view, with detail of the shagreen of palatal teeth highlighted. a, angular; ar, articular; at, atlas; ax, axis; cr, cervical rib; cv, cervical vertebra; d, dentary; ect, ectopterygoid; f, frontal; hy, hyoid; in, internal naris; j, jugal; mx, maxilla; n, nasal; p, parietal; pal, palatine; pf, postfrontal; pm, premaxilla; po, postorbital; prf, prefrontal; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; sa, surangular; sp, splenial; sq, squamosal; v, vomer. [Illustration: X. Guo, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Artist’s restoration ofA. unicus depicting it as a herbivore grazing on marine plants growing on a hard substrate in the eastern Tethyan Sea during Middle Triassic times.
Using batteries of spatulate teeth lining the hammerhead expansions of both the upper and lower jaws, it would have been able to scrape off numerous pieces of plant matter into suspension in the water. This could then be sucked in and filtered by the long, thin, and closely packed needle-shaped teeth lining the main jaw rami. [Illustration: Y. Chen, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology]
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