Abstract

The oldest known complex terrestrial vertebrate community included hypercarnivorous varanopids, a successful clade of amniotes with wide geographic and temporal distributions. Little is known about their dentition and feeding behaviour, but with the unprecedented number of specimens of the varanopid Mesenosaurus from cave deposits in Oklahoma, we show that it exhibited serrations on the tooth crowns, and exceptionally rapid rates of development and reduced longevity relative to other terrestrial amniotes. In contrast, the coeval large apex predator Dimetrodon greatly increased dental longevity by increasing thickness and massiveness, whereas herbivores greatly reduced tooth replacement rates and increased dental longevity. Insectivores and omnivores represented the primitive condition and maintained modest replacement rates and longevity. The varied patterns of dental development among these early terrestrial amniotes reveal a hidden aspect of dental complexity in the emerging diverse amniote community, very soon after their initial appearance in the fossil record.