The results, published today in the journal Science show how tough the prehistoric grinders were - and they were perfect for grinding and slicing plants that fed the hadrosaurs for so long.In short, there was always something for the animal to eat. No wonder they were so successful - this opened up huge energy inputs that other species couldn't touch.
"These guys were like walking pulp mills," Erickson says. Wear on the tooth actually improved its grinding ability, making these toothy dinos dental unparalleled marvels compared to today's chewers - such as horses and buffalos - which have much simpler tooth setups.
Earlier research had shown that hadrosaurs had up to 1,400 teeth packed behind their bills, and that these fell out and were replaced continually over the year, almost like today's sharks that can replace lost teeth with backup pearly whites.
The flat-topped teeth allowed hadrosaurs to grind through low-lying grasses, the tough leaves of plants, such as horsetails and ferns, and the woody bits of conifers.
Friday, October 5, 2012
News you can use: Duck Bill Dinosaurs had best teeth EVAH
OK, this is completely useless information but helps explain how the Hadrosaurs were so wildly successful:
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3 comments:
I wonder how their jaw muscle structure looked.
Elephants have a similar arrangement. Teeth shuffle forward like a very slow conveyor belt.
must have had a digestive system like a blast furnace.
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