Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis

Abstract Reptiles are key components of modern ecosystems, yet for many species detailed characterisations of their diets are lacking. Data currently used in dietary reconstructions are limited either to the last few meals or to proxy records of average diet over temporal scales of months to years,...

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Autores principales:	Jordan Bestwick, David M. Unwin, Mark A. Purnell
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2019
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/8273fd8803464b0f9643885b6223f21d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:8273fd8803464b0f9643885b6223f21d2021-12-02T16:08:43ZDietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis10.1038/s41598-019-48154-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/8273fd8803464b0f9643885b6223f21d2019-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-48154-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Reptiles are key components of modern ecosystems, yet for many species detailed characterisations of their diets are lacking. Data currently used in dietary reconstructions are limited either to the last few meals or to proxy records of average diet over temporal scales of months to years, providing only coarse indications of trophic level(s). Proxies that record information over weeks to months would allow more accurate reconstructions of reptile diets and better predictions of how ecosystems might respond to global change drivers. Here, we apply dental microwear textural analysis (DMTA) to dietary guilds encompassing both archosaurian and lepidosaurian reptiles, demonstrating its value as a tool for characterising diets over temporal scales of weeks to months. DMTA, involving analysis of the three-dimensional, sub-micrometre scale textures created on tooth surfaces by interactions with food, reveals that the teeth of reptiles with diets dominated by invertebrates, particularly invertebrates with hard exoskeletons (e.g. beetles and snails), exhibit rougher microwear textures than reptiles with vertebrate-dominated diets. Teeth of fish-feeding reptiles exhibit the smoothest textures of all guilds. These results demonstrate the efficacy of DMTA as a dietary proxy in taxa from across the phylogenetic range of extant reptiles. This method is applicable to extant taxa (living or museum specimens) and extinct reptiles, providing new insights into past, present and future ecosystems.Jordan BestwickDavid M. UnwinMark A. PurnellNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Jordan Bestwick David M. Unwin Mark A. Purnell Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis
description	Abstract Reptiles are key components of modern ecosystems, yet for many species detailed characterisations of their diets are lacking. Data currently used in dietary reconstructions are limited either to the last few meals or to proxy records of average diet over temporal scales of months to years, providing only coarse indications of trophic level(s). Proxies that record information over weeks to months would allow more accurate reconstructions of reptile diets and better predictions of how ecosystems might respond to global change drivers. Here, we apply dental microwear textural analysis (DMTA) to dietary guilds encompassing both archosaurian and lepidosaurian reptiles, demonstrating its value as a tool for characterising diets over temporal scales of weeks to months. DMTA, involving analysis of the three-dimensional, sub-micrometre scale textures created on tooth surfaces by interactions with food, reveals that the teeth of reptiles with diets dominated by invertebrates, particularly invertebrates with hard exoskeletons (e.g. beetles and snails), exhibit rougher microwear textures than reptiles with vertebrate-dominated diets. Teeth of fish-feeding reptiles exhibit the smoothest textures of all guilds. These results demonstrate the efficacy of DMTA as a dietary proxy in taxa from across the phylogenetic range of extant reptiles. This method is applicable to extant taxa (living or museum specimens) and extinct reptiles, providing new insights into past, present and future ecosystems.
format	article
author	Jordan Bestwick David M. Unwin Mark A. Purnell
author_facet	Jordan Bestwick David M. Unwin Mark A. Purnell
author_sort	Jordan Bestwick
title	Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis
title_short	Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis
title_full	Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis
title_fullStr	Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis
title_full_unstemmed	Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis
title_sort	dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/8273fd8803464b0f9643885b6223f21d
work_keys_str_mv	AT jordanbestwick dietarydifferencesinarchosaurandlepidosaurreptilesrevealedbydentalmicroweartexturalanalysis AT davidmunwin dietarydifferencesinarchosaurandlepidosaurreptilesrevealedbydentalmicroweartexturalanalysis AT markapurnell dietarydifferencesinarchosaurandlepidosaurreptilesrevealedbydentalmicroweartexturalanalysis
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Dietary differences in archosaur and lepidosaur reptiles revealed by dental microwear textural analysis

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