The coevolution of rostral keratin and tooth distribution in dinosaurs
Isaura Aguilar-Pedrayes,
Jacob D. Gardner,
Chris L. Organ
Abstract:Teeth evolved early in vertebrate evolution, and their morphology reflects important specializations in diet and ecology among species. The toothless jaws (edentulism) in extant birds likely coevolved with beak keratin, which functionally replaced teeth. However, extinct dinosaurs lost teeth multiple times independently and exhibited great variation in toothrow distribution and rhamphotheca-like keratin structures. Here, we use rostral jawbone surface texture as a proxy for rostral keratin covering and phyloge… Show more
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