Tooth function and replacement in early Mesozoic ornithischian dinosaurs: implications for aestivation

Abstract

Thulborn (1978, Leihaia II) suggests that ornithischian dinosaurs of the upper Stormberg Series (Late Triassic-Early Jurassic) of southern Africa underwent aestivation during an annual dry season. His argument, based on an interpretation of tooth function and replacement in heterodontosaurids, is: (1) unequivocal evidence of tooth replacement is not seen, and (2) piecemeal replacement of the dentition would be incompatible with maintenance of a fore-aft grinding function of the teeth; therefore, the entire dentition must have been rapidly replaced as a unit during periods of non-feeding, i.e. during aestivation. However, study of tooth wear patterns in Lanasaurus, Lycorhinus, and Heterodontosaurus show that jaw movements during mastication were orthal (open-and-close) and lateral to medial, not forwards and backwards. Differences in degree of tooth wear would not interfere with masticatory movements. Patterns of differential wear indicate that tooth replacement was not periodic but continuous, as in other reptiles. Zahnreihen, with a Z-spacing of about 3.0, are recognizable. Replacement ceased in mature individuals. The dentition shows adaptations for prolonging its effective life despite heavy wear. Differential tooth wear is incompatible with the idea of replacement of the entire dentition as a unit during an hypothesized period of aestivation. Thulborn's suggestion of aestivation in fabrosaurid ornithischians is also shown to be unlikely.