Extreme tooth enlargement in a new Late Cretaceous rhabdodontid dinosaur from Southern France

[en] Rhabdodontidae is a successful clade of ornithopod dinosaurs, characteristic of Late Cretaceous continental faunas in Europe. A new rhabdodontid from the late Campanian, of southern France, Matheronodon provincialis gen. et sp. nov., is characterized by the extreme enlargement of both its maxillary and dentary teeth, correlated to a drastic reduction in the number of maxillary teeth (4 per generation in MMS/VBN-02-102). The interalveolar septa on the maxilla are alternately present or resorbed ventrally so as to be able to lodge such enlarged teeth. The rhabdodontid dentition and masticatory apparatus were adapted for producing a strict and powerful shearing action, resembling a pair of scissors. With their relatively simple dentition, contrasting with the sophisticated dental batteries in contemporary hadrosaurids, Matheronodon and other rhabdodontids are tentatively interpreted as specialized consumers of tough plant parts rich in sclerenchyma fibers, such as Sabalites and Pandanites

Disciplines :

Zoology

Author, co-author :

Godefroit, Pascal; IRSNB > Life and Earth History

Garcia, Garldine

Gomez, B.

Stein, Koen ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géologie > Evolution and diversity dynamics lab

Cincotta, Aude

Lefevre, Ulysse ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Doct. sc. (géologie - Bologne)

Valentin, Xavier

Language :

English

Title :

Extreme tooth enlargement in a new Late Cretaceous rhabdodontid dinosaur from Southern France

Publication date :

2017

Journal title :

Scientific Reports

eISSN :

2045-2322

Publisher :

Nature Publishing Group, London, United Kingdom

Pages :

13098

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 18 June 2019

Statistics

Number of views

27 (3 by ULiège)

Number of downloads

1 (1 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

OpenCitations

Bibliography

Matheron, P. Notice sur les reptiles fossiles des dépôts fluvio-lacustres crétacés du bassin à lignite de Fuveau. Mem. Acad. Imp. Sc., Belles-Let., Arts Marseille, 345-379 (1869).
Buffetaut, E. & Le Loeuff, J. Une nouvelle espèce de Rhabdodon (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) du Crétacé supérieur de l'Hérault (Sud de la France). C. R. Acad. Sc. Ser. 2. 318, 943-948 (1991).
Weishampel D. B., Jianu, C.-M., Csiki, Z. & Norman, D. B. Osteology and phylogeny of Zalmoxes (n.g.), an unusual euornithopod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Romania. J. Syst. Palaeont. 1, 65-123 (2003).
si, A., Prondvai, E., Butler, R. & Weishampel, D. B. Phylogeny, histology and inferred body size evolution in a new rhabdodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary. PLoS ONE 7(9), 1-44 (2012).
Dieudonné, P.-E., Tortosa, T., Torcida Fernández-Baldo, F., Canudo, J. I. & Díaz-Martínez, I. An unexpected early rhabdodontid from Europe (Lower Cretaceous of Salas de los Infantes, Burgos Province, Spain) and a re-examination of basal iguanodontian relationships. PLoS ONE 11(6), 1-40 (2016).
Garcia, G., Fournier, F., Amico, S., Thouand, E. & Valentin, X. A new titanosaur genus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of southern France and its paleobiogeographic implications. Bull. Soc. Geol. France 181, 269-277 (2010).
Martin, J. E. et al. New specimens of Allodaposuchus precedens from France: intraspecific variability and the diversity of European Late Cretaceous eusuchians. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 176, 607-631 (2015).
Cincotta, A. et al. Integrated paleoenvironmental reconstruction and taphonomy of a unique Upper Cretaceous vertebrate-bearing locality (Velaux, Southeastern France). PLoS ONE 1(18), 1-20 (2015).
Chanthasit, P. The ornithopod dinosaur Rhabdodon from the Late Cretaceous of France: anatomy, systematics and palaeobiology. Unpublished PhD thesis, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (2010).
Edmund, A. G. On the special foramina in the jaws of many ornithischian dinosaurs. Contrib. Roy. Ontario Mus., Div. Zool. Paleont. 48, 3-14 (1957).
Ostrom, J. H. Cranial morphology of the hadrosaurian dinosaurs of North America. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 122, 37-186 (1961).
Godefroit, P., Codrea, V. & Weishampel, D. B. Osteology of Zalmoxes shqiperorum (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda), based on new specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of Nla-Vad (Romania). Geodiversitas 31, 525-53 (2009).
Sander, P. M. The microstructure of reptilian tooth enamel: terminology, function, and phylogeny. Munch. Geowiss. Abh. 38, 1-102 (1999).
Erickson, G. M. et al. Complex dental structure and wear biomechanics in hadrosaurid dinosaurs. Science 338, 98-101 (2012).
Erickson, G. M. Incremental lines of von Ebner in dinosaurs and the assessment of tooth replacement rates using growth line counts. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sc. USA 93, 14623-14627 (1996).
Sereno, P. C. 1998. A rationale for phylogenetic definitions, with application to the higher-level taxonomy of Dinosauria. N. Jb. Geol. Palaontol. Abhand. 210, 41-83 (1997).
Nopcsa, F. Dinosaurierreste aus Siebenburgen II. (Schädelreste von Mochlodon). Mit einem Anhange: zur Phylogenie der Ornithopodiden. Denk. Akad. Wiss. Wien 74, 149-175 (1902).
Bunzel, E. Die Reptilfauna der Gosau-Formation in der Neuen Welt bei Wiener-Neustadt. Abh. Geol. Reichsanst. Wien 5, 1-18 (1871).
Norman, D. B. & Weishampel, D. B. Ornithopod feeding mechanisms: their bearing on the evolution of herbivory. Am. Nat. 126, 151-164 (1985).
Strickson, E., Prieto-Márquez, A., Benton, M. J. & Stubbs, T. L. Dynamics of dental evolution in ornithopod dinosaurs. Sci. Rep. 6, 28904 (2016).
Galton, P. M. The ornithischian dinosaur Hypsilophodon from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight. Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist., Geol. Series 25, 3-152 (1974).
Scheetz, R. D. Osteology of Orodromeus makelai and the phylogeny of basal ornithopod dinosaurs. Unpublished PhD Thesis (1999).
Jin, L., Chen, J., Zan, S., Butler, R. J. & Godefroit, P. Cranial anatomy of the small ornithischian dinosaur Changchunsaurus parvus from the Quantou Formation (Cretaceous: Aptian-Cenomanian) of Jilin Province, northeastern China. J. Vert. Paleont. 30, 196-214 (2010).
Gilmore, C. W. Osteology of the Jurassic reptile Camptosaurus: with a revision of the species of the genus, and description of two new species. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 332, 197-332 (1909).
Norman, D. B. On the ornithischian dinosaur Iguanodon bernissartensis of Bernissart. Mem. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg. 178, 1-103 (1980).
Norman, D. B. On the anatomy of Iguanodon atherfieldensis (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda). Bull. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg. Sci. Terre 56, 281-372 (1986).
Taquet, P. Géologie et paléontologie du gisement de Gadoufaoua (Aptien du Niger). Cahiers Paleont. CNRS, 1-191 (1976).
Erickson, G. M. et al. Wear biomechanics in the slicing dentition of the giant horned dinosaur Triceratops. Sci. Adv. 1(5), e1500055-e1500055 (2015).
Strait, S. G. Tooth use and the physical properties of food. Evol. Anthr. 5, 199-211 (1997).
Lucas, P. W. Dental functional morphology: How teeth work (Cambridge University Press, (2004).
Mallon, J. C. & Anderson, J. S. The Functional and palaeoecological implications of tooth morphology and wear for the megaherbivorous dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada. PLoS ONE 9(6), 1-34 (2014).
Kräusel, R. D. Nahrung von. Trachodon. Palaontol. Z. 4, 80 (1922).
Currie, P. J., Koppelhus, E. B. & Muhammad, A. F. "Stomach" contents of a hadrosaurid from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada. In Sixth Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota, Short Papers (eds Sun, A. & Wang, Y.) 111-114 (China Ocean Press, 1995).
Tweet, J. S., Chin, K., Braman, D. R. & Murphy, N. L. Probable gut contents within a specimen of Brachylophosaurus canadensis from the Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana. Palaios 23, 624-635 (2007).
Le Loeuff, J., Buffetaut, E. & Martin, M. The last stages of dinosaur faunal history in Europe: a succession of Maastrichtian dinosaur assemblages from the Corbières (southern France). Geol. Mag. 131, 625-630 (1994).
Valentin, X. et al. First Late Maastrichtian (Latest Cretaceous) vertebrate assemblage from Provence (Vitrolles-la-Plaine, Southern France. In Bernissart Dinosaurs and Early Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems (ed Godefroit, P.) 582-597 (Indiana Univ. Press, 2012).
Godefroit, P. & Lambert, O. A re-appraisal of Craspedodon lonzeensis Dollo, 1883 from the Upper Cretaceous of Belgium: the first record of a neoceratopsian dinosaur in Europe Bull. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belgique, Sci. Terre 77, 83-93 (2007).
Lindgren, J. et al. The first neoceratopsian dinosaur remains from Europe. Palaeontology 50, 929-937 (2007).
Ösi, A., Butler, R. J. & Weishampel, D. B. A Late Cretaceous ceratopsian dinosaur from Europe with Asian affinities. Nature 465, 466-468 (2010).
Herman, A.B. & Kvaek, J. Late Cretaceous Grünbach flora of Austria. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 1-216 (2010).
Summesberger, H. The Cretaceous of the Grünbach-Neue Welt Basin. In Climates: past, present and future (eds Kollmann, H. A. & Hubmann, B.) 77-89 (2nd European Palaeontological Congress, Vienna, 1997).
Hradecká, L., Lobitzer, H., Svobodová, M. & Švábenická, L. 2000. Biostratigraphy of selected exposures in the Grünbach-Neue Welt Gosau Group (Late Cretaceous). In 6th International Cretaceous Symposium Abst. Vol., 51 (Vienna, August 27-September 4, 2000) p. 51, Vienna.
Popa, M. E., Kvaek, J., Vasile, S. & Csiki-Sava, Z. Maastrichtian monocotyledons of the Rusca Montan and Haeg basins, South Carpathians, Romania. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 210, 89-101 (2014).
Marmi, J., Gomez, B. & Martín-Closas, C. Presencia de macrorrestos parautóctonos de Sabalites cf. longirhachis (Unger, 1850). Kvaek & Herman, 2004 en facies parálicas del Cretácico Superior del Pirineo oriental. Rev. Esp. Paleontol. 23, 7-14 (2008).
Marmi, J., Gomez, B., Villalba-Breva, S. & Martín-Closas, C. A reconstruction of the fossil palm Sabalites longirhachis (Unger) J. Kvaek et Herman from the Maastrichtian of Pyrenees. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 163, 73-83 (2010).
Marmi, J., Gomez, B., Villalba-Breva, S. & Martín-Closas, C. Bergacarpon viladricii gen. et sp. nov., angiosperm seeds and associated fruits from the early Maastrichtian of the eastern Pyrenees (Catalonia, Spain). Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 171, 83-94 (2012).
Vicente i Castells, J. Estudi morfològic de la flora cretàcica d'Isona (Pallars Jussà). Institut d'Estudis de la Natura del Barcelonès Nord, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, 223 pp. (2002).
Villalba-Breva, S. et al. Peat-forming plants in the Maastrichtian coals of the Eastern Pyrenees. Geol. Acta 10, 189-207 (2012).
Riera, V., Marmi, J., Oms, O. & Gomez, B. Orientated plant fragments revealing tidal palaeocurrents in the Fumanya mudflat (Maastrichtian, southern Pyrenees): insights in palaeogeographic reconstructions. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 288, 82-92 (2010).
Marmi, J., Gomez, B., Martín-Closas, C., Villalba-Breva, S. & Daviero-Gomez, V. Diversified fossil plant assemblages from the Maastrichtian in Isona (southeastern Pyrenees). Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 206, 45-59 (2014).
Villalba-Breva, S. et al. Plant taphonomy and palaeoenvironment from the Upper Cretaceous of Isona, Tremp Basin, southern Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain. Cret. Res. 54, 34-49 (2015).
Médus, J. Palynological zonation of the Upper Cretaceous in Southern France and Northeastern Spain. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 14, 287-295 (1972).
Porta, J., Kedves, M., Solé de Porta, N. & Civis, J. Palinologia del Maastrichtiense del Barranco de la Posa (Lérida, España). Problemática regional. Rev. Invest. Geol. 40, 5-28 (1985).
Ashraf, A. R. & Erben, H. K. Palynologische Untersuchugen an der Kreide/Tertiär-Grenze west-Mediterraner regionen. Palaeontographica B 200, 111-163 (1986).
Médus, J. et al. Prospects for recognition of the palynological Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary and an iridium anomaly in nonmarine facies of the eastern Spanish Pyrenees: a preliminary report. Newslett. Stratigr. 18, 123-138 (1988).
Lpez-Martínez, N., Fernández-Marrn, M. T. & Valle, M. F. The succession of vertebrates and plants across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the Tremp Formation, Ager valley (South-Central Pyrenees, Spain). Geobios 32, 617-627 (1999).
Fernández-Marrn, M. T., Lpez-Martínez, N., Fonollá-Ocete, J. F. & Valle-Hernández, M. F. The palynological record across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in differing palaeogeographical settings from the southern Pyrenees, Spain. In The Palynology and Micropaleontology of Boundaries (eds Beaudoin, A. B. & Head, M. J.). Geol. Soc. London Sp. Public. 230, 243-255 (2004).
Torices, A., Fernández-Marrn, M. T., Fonollá, F. & Lpez-Martínez, N. Palynological characterization of a transgressive episode in transitional deposits in the Cretaceous Aren and Tremp formations (south-central Pyrenees, Spain). N. Jb. Geol. Palaont. Abh. 266, 159-172 (2012).
Villalba-Breva, S. et al. Peat-forming plants in the Maastrichtian coals of the Eastern Pyrenees. Geol. Acta 10, 189-207 (2012).
Ortega, F. et al. The biota of the Upper Cretaceous site of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain). J. Iber. Geol. 41, 83-99 (2015).
Peyrot, D., Barroso-Barcenilla, F. & Cambra-Moo Paleoecology of the late Campanian/early Maastrichtian Fossil-Lagerstätte of "Lo Hueco" (Cuenca, Spain): Palynological insights. Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol. 387, 27-39 (2013).
Fritel, P. F. La flore aturienne de Fuveau d'après les matériaux de la collection de Saporta. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Paris 33, 404-410 (1927).
Carpentier, A. Remarques sur des empreintes de Frenelopsis trouvées dans le Campanien inférieur de la Sainte-Baume. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Marseille 28, 1-14 (1937).
Méon, H., Odin, G. S., Antonescu, E. & Siegl-Farkas, A. Synthetic data on spores and pollen across the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary at Tercis-les-Bains (SW France). In The Campanian-Maastrichtian stage boundary Characterisation at Tercis les Bains (France) and correlation with Europe and other Continents (Odin, G. S. ed). Dev. Palaeont. Strat. 19, 210-216 (2001).
Horner, J. R., Weishampel, D. B. & Forster, C. A. In The Dinosauria 2 (eds Weishampel, D. B., Dodson, P. & Osmólska, H.) 438-463 (Univ. California Press, 2004).
Chin, K. & Gill, B. D. Dinosaurs, dung beetles, and conifers: participants in a Cretaceous food web. Palaios 11, 280-285 (1996).