A collaborative study between UF researchers and a Florida State University paleobiologist has scientists chewing on new ideas about dinosaur study.
The study, published this month in the journal “Science,” found that the teeth of the hadrosaurid — a Late Cretaceous-period herbivore with a duck-like bill — are composed of six layers of tissue instead of the two layers expected in typical reptile dental structures, according to a news release.
This means dinosaur teeth are much more complex than previously thought, said UF postdoctoral researcher Brandon Krick.
One of the processes that made the breakthrough, rarely used on fossils, Krick said, involves scratching the material with a diamond-tipped tool to measure how it responds to abrasion.
The research team ran preliminary tests showing the tooth’s high mineral content had preserved the structures they wanted to explore further.
The lab instruments used in the study were designed and built by UF students, Krick said.
Krick said the team found that the six tissue types contained in the tooth displayed different levels of resistance to abrasion.
The results help scientists understand the biomechanics of hadrosaurids as “grinders,” similar to bison and other grazing animals.
“They’re like the horses of the dinosaur period,” Krick said.
He said the results open up new avenues for discovering the tissue properties of other fossils through mechanical tests.
“Paleontologists will have new ideas on testing to learn about the biomechanics of these animals,” Krick said.
