Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.

Isolated small theropod teeth are abundant in vertebrate microfossil assemblages, and are frequently used in studies of species diversity in ancient ecosystems. However, determining the taxonomic affinities of these teeth is problematic due to an absence of associated diagnostic skeletal material. S...

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Autores principales:	Derek W Larson, Philip J Currie
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/79c2383feed049108a150a9ec7b64ed2
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:79c2383feed049108a150a9ec7b64ed22021-11-18T08:00:22ZMultivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0054329https://doaj.org/article/79c2383feed049108a150a9ec7b64ed22013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23372708/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Isolated small theropod teeth are abundant in vertebrate microfossil assemblages, and are frequently used in studies of species diversity in ancient ecosystems. However, determining the taxonomic affinities of these teeth is problematic due to an absence of associated diagnostic skeletal material. Species such as Dromaeosaurus albertensis, Richardoestesia gilmorei, and Saurornitholestes langstoni are known from skeletal remains that have been recovered exclusively from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian). It is therefore likely that teeth from different formations widely disparate in age or geographic position are not referable to these species. Tooth taxa without any associated skeletal material, such as Paronychodon lacustris and Richardoestesia isosceles, have also been identified from multiple localities of disparate ages throughout the Late Cretaceous. To address this problem, a dataset of measurements of 1183 small theropod teeth (the most specimen-rich theropod tooth dataset ever constructed) from North America ranging in age from Santonian through Maastrichtian were analyzed using multivariate statistical methods: canonical variate analysis, pairwise discriminant function analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance. The results indicate that teeth referred to the same taxon from different formations are often quantitatively distinct. In contrast, isolated teeth found in time equivalent formations are not quantitatively distinguishable from each other. These results support the hypothesis that small theropod taxa, like other dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous, tend to be exclusive to discrete host formations. The methods outlined have great potential for future studies of isolated teeth worldwide, and may be the most useful non-destructive technique known of extracting the most data possible from isolated and fragmentary specimens. The ability to accurately assess species diversity and turnover through time based on isolated teeth will help illuminate patterns of evolution and extinction in these groups and potentially others in greater detail than has previously been thought possible without more complete skeletal material.Derek W LarsonPhilip J CurriePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 1, p e54329 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Derek W Larson Philip J Currie Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.
description	Isolated small theropod teeth are abundant in vertebrate microfossil assemblages, and are frequently used in studies of species diversity in ancient ecosystems. However, determining the taxonomic affinities of these teeth is problematic due to an absence of associated diagnostic skeletal material. Species such as Dromaeosaurus albertensis, Richardoestesia gilmorei, and Saurornitholestes langstoni are known from skeletal remains that have been recovered exclusively from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian). It is therefore likely that teeth from different formations widely disparate in age or geographic position are not referable to these species. Tooth taxa without any associated skeletal material, such as Paronychodon lacustris and Richardoestesia isosceles, have also been identified from multiple localities of disparate ages throughout the Late Cretaceous. To address this problem, a dataset of measurements of 1183 small theropod teeth (the most specimen-rich theropod tooth dataset ever constructed) from North America ranging in age from Santonian through Maastrichtian were analyzed using multivariate statistical methods: canonical variate analysis, pairwise discriminant function analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance. The results indicate that teeth referred to the same taxon from different formations are often quantitatively distinct. In contrast, isolated teeth found in time equivalent formations are not quantitatively distinguishable from each other. These results support the hypothesis that small theropod taxa, like other dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous, tend to be exclusive to discrete host formations. The methods outlined have great potential for future studies of isolated teeth worldwide, and may be the most useful non-destructive technique known of extracting the most data possible from isolated and fragmentary specimens. The ability to accurately assess species diversity and turnover through time based on isolated teeth will help illuminate patterns of evolution and extinction in these groups and potentially others in greater detail than has previously been thought possible without more complete skeletal material.
format	article
author	Derek W Larson Philip J Currie
author_facet	Derek W Larson Philip J Currie
author_sort	Derek W Larson
title	Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.
title_short	Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.
title_full	Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.
title_fullStr	Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.
title_full_unstemmed	Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.
title_sort	multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/79c2383feed049108a150a9ec7b64ed2
work_keys_str_mv	AT derekwlarson multivariateanalysesofsmalltheropoddinosaurteethandimplicationsforpaleoecologicalturnoverthroughtime AT philipjcurrie multivariateanalysesofsmalltheropoddinosaurteethandimplicationsforpaleoecologicalturnoverthroughtime
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Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time.

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