The Evolution of Extreme Hypercarnivory in Metriorhynchidae (Mesoeucrocodylia: Thalattosuchia) Based on Evidence from Microscopic Denticle Morphology

By Marco Brandalise de Andrade, M. Young, J. Desojo, S. Brusatte. 2010

112 citations recorded by the source corpus.

ABSTRACT Metriorhynchids were a peculiar group of fully marine Mesozoic crocodylomorphs. The derived genera Dakosaurus and Geosaurus exhibit a macroevolutionary trend towards extreme hypercarnivory, underpinned by a diverse array of craniodental adaptations, including denticulate serrated (ziphodont) dentition. A comparative analysis of serrations in Metriorhynchidae shows that known Dakosaurus species had conspicuous denticles, in contrast to the microscopic denticles of Geosaurus. A new tooth from the Nusplingen Plattenkalk of Germany provides evidence for a previously unknown large species of Geosaurus. Metriorhynchid specimens from the upper Kimmeridgian—lower Tithonian of Southern Germany show that ziphodont species of Dakosaurus and Geosaurus co-occurred in the Nusplingen and Solnhofen Seas. Although these genera are similarly denticulate, they diverge in overall crown morphology. Therefore, resource/niche partitioning via craniodental differentiation is posited as maintaining two contemporaneous genera of highly predatory metriorhynchids. Additionally, the new generic name Torvoneustes is proposed for “Geosaurus” carpenteri, the only known metriorhynchid with false-ziphodont dentition. A cladistic analysis shows that ziphodont dentition may have evolved independently in Dakosaurus and Geosaurus, or been acquired earlier by their common ancestor and secondarily lost in Torvoneustes and related taxa.

Subfields: Nature and Landscape Conservation, Paleontology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ec7cfeffb908fecbb59c1fd60c15e0f806a91cfc

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In Nature and Landscape Conservation

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Citations in the corpus

The oldest known metriorhynchid super-predator: a new genus and species from the Middle Jurassic of England, with implications for serration and mandibular evolution in predacious clades (2013, methodology): “Dental characters of Torvoneustes carpenteri have been described previously by Grange & Benton (1996), Wilkinson et al. (2008) and Andrade et al. (2010).”
A new Berriasian species of Goniopholis (Mesoeucrocodylia, Neosuchia) from England, and a review of the genus (2011, background): “Still, crown morphology remains an overall useful tool for gross recognition of morphotypes (see Andrade et al., 2010), but any taxonomic assignment or species definition must also be supported by a phylogenetic analysis, or other meaningful associated remains.”
A Proposed Terminology of Theropod Teeth (Dinosauria, Saurischia) (2015, background): “De Andrade et al. (2010) define ziphodont dentitions differently, as dentitions where all teeth possess denticulate carinae.”