Complex food preference analysis of the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) lizards from Iharkút (Bakony Mountains, Hungary)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Upper Cretaceous Iharkút vertebrate locality (Bakony Mountains, Hungary) provided a diverse lizard fauna. In order to infer their food preference, jaw and tooth morphology, as well as dental macro- and microwear, were analysed. Due to preservation, only specimens of three taxa (Chromatogenys, Bicuspidon, ‘Scincomorpha indet. A’) were studied. Extant lizards, including omnivores, durophages, insectivores, molluscivores and a herbivore, were used as analogies for interpretation. Based on morphological and dental wear studies, Chromatogenys seems to have consumed and processed hard objects regularly with its enlarged posterior teeth. In contrast, Bicuspidon with its complex bicuspid teeth might have fed on both softer and harder food items, and according to dental wear analysis, its diet can be placed between herbivory and insectivory. The sharply pointed teeth and jaw morphology of ‘Scincomorpha indet. A’ are comparable to recent insectivorous taxa though tooth crown morphology is most similar to burrowing species. This investigation is considered as a pilot study providing insight into the complexity of food chains of the Late Cretaceous Iharkút terrestrial communities. Furthermore, our results clearly demonstrate that the two-dimensional dental microwear analysis works well on the small (tooth crown diameter less than 1 mm) teeth of both extinct and extant lizards.