Spinosaurid dinosaurs were able to develop up to three generations of teeth at the same time, a high replacement rate that explains why so many teeth of this type have been found in Cretaceous sites. This has been confirmed by a study in which researchers from the UPV/EHU are taking part and which has been published in the journal Historical Biology.
August 9, 2022
Spinosaurid dinosaurs were able to develop up to three generations of teeth at the same time, a high replacement rate that explains why so many teeth of this type have been found in Cretaceous sites. This has been confirmed by a study in which researchers from the UPV/EHU are taking part and which has been published in the journal Historical Biology.
The article „New contributions to the skull anatomy of spinosaurid theropods“ was published by Iker Isasmendi (lead author) and Xavier Pereda of the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, Pablo Navarro of the UR-University of La Rioja, Angélica Torices, director of the Chair of Paleontology at the UR, plus other experts of the Complutense University of Madrid and the Palaeontological Visitors‘ Center of La Rioja.
The scientists have reassessed fossil jaw remains published by Viera and Torres in 1995 and found in 1983 in a Lower Cretaceous site at Igea (La Rioja, Spain). The remains constitute a fragment of a left maxilla belonging to a carnivorous dinosaur and in which eight alveoli have been preserved. Using microCT techniques, they discovered the remains of several teeth developing simultaneously in one of these dental sockets.
