Project 3605: M. R. Whitney, Y. T. Tse, C. A. Sidor. 2019. Histological evidence of trauma in tusks of southern African dicynodonts. Palaeontologia africana. 53:65-80.
Abstract
Dicynodonts were a clade of globally-distributed therapsids known for their abundance in the fossil record and for surviving the Permo-Triassic mass extinction. The group had distinctive dental adaptations including a beak and, in many species, paired maxillary tusks. The function of these tusks has long been of interest, yet remains poorly understood. We report here on two instances of unusual morphology in tusk dentine from specimens of: 1) Lystrosaurus from the Karoo Basin of South Africa and, 2) an unidentified dicynodontoid from the Luangwa Basin of Zambia. In both, the cross-sectional shape of the tusk root is lobed and infolded, which histological features suggest is a result of abnormal dentine deposition. We infer that this abnormal morphology is likely the conse- quence of trauma given its reparative nature and structural similarities to trauma-related morphologies reported in the tusks of modern elephants. This study demonstrates that histological sampling of dicynodont tusks can shed light on the biology of this important clade of therapsids.Read the article »
Project DOI: 10.7934/P3605, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P3605
This project contains |
---|
Download Project SDD File |
Currently Viewing:
MorphoBank Project 3605
MorphoBank Project 3605
- Creation Date:
06 January 2020 - Publication Date:
06 January 2020 - Project views: 11471
This research
supported by
Authors' Institutions
- University of Washington
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media |
Megan Whitney Project Administrator | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Project has no matrices defined.
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 11471 | |
Project overview | 1086 | |
Media views | 4607 | Media search (2168 views); M683214 (380 views); M683217 (407 views); M683216 (394 views); M683218 (449 views); M683215 (377 views); M683213 (432 views); |
Views for media list | 2064 | |
Specimen list | 2400 | |
Taxon list | 795 | |
Bibliography | 514 | |
Documents list | 5 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 140 | |
Project downloads | 140 |