Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs

Abstract As abundant and widespread predators, elasmobranchs play influential roles in food-web dynamics of marine communities. Clearly, these trophic interactions have significant implications for fisheries management and marine conservation, yet elasmobranch diet is relatively understudied; for th...

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Autores principales:	Laura J. McLennan, Mark A. Purnell
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/8cedef316adf445b9d63aa4b0e07672b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:8cedef316adf445b9d63aa4b0e07672b2021-12-02T13:27:32ZDental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs10.1038/s41598-021-81258-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/8cedef316adf445b9d63aa4b0e07672b2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81258-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract As abundant and widespread predators, elasmobranchs play influential roles in food-web dynamics of marine communities. Clearly, these trophic interactions have significant implications for fisheries management and marine conservation, yet elasmobranch diet is relatively understudied; for the majority of species little or no quantitative dietary data exist. This reflects the difficulties of direct observation of feeding and stomach contents analysis in wild elasmobranchs. Here, by quantifying the 3D surface textures that develop on tooth surfaces as a consequence of feeding, we show that tooth microwear varies with diet in elasmobranchs, providing a new tool for dietary analysis. The technique can be applied to small samples and individuals with no gut contents, and thus offers a way to reduce the impact on wild elasmobranch populations of analysing their dietary ecology, especially relevant in conservation of endangered species. Furthermore, because microwear accumulates over longer periods of time, analysis of texture overcomes the ‘snapshot bias’ of stomach contents analysis. Microwear texture analysis has the potential to be a powerful tool, complementing existing techniques such as stable isotope analysis, for dietary analysis in living and extinct elasmobranchs.Laura J. McLennanMark A. PurnellNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Laura J. McLennan Mark A. Purnell Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs
description	Abstract As abundant and widespread predators, elasmobranchs play influential roles in food-web dynamics of marine communities. Clearly, these trophic interactions have significant implications for fisheries management and marine conservation, yet elasmobranch diet is relatively understudied; for the majority of species little or no quantitative dietary data exist. This reflects the difficulties of direct observation of feeding and stomach contents analysis in wild elasmobranchs. Here, by quantifying the 3D surface textures that develop on tooth surfaces as a consequence of feeding, we show that tooth microwear varies with diet in elasmobranchs, providing a new tool for dietary analysis. The technique can be applied to small samples and individuals with no gut contents, and thus offers a way to reduce the impact on wild elasmobranch populations of analysing their dietary ecology, especially relevant in conservation of endangered species. Furthermore, because microwear accumulates over longer periods of time, analysis of texture overcomes the ‘snapshot bias’ of stomach contents analysis. Microwear texture analysis has the potential to be a powerful tool, complementing existing techniques such as stable isotope analysis, for dietary analysis in living and extinct elasmobranchs.
format	article
author	Laura J. McLennan Mark A. Purnell
author_facet	Laura J. McLennan Mark A. Purnell
author_sort	Laura J. McLennan
title	Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs
title_short	Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs
title_full	Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs
title_fullStr	Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs
title_full_unstemmed	Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs
title_sort	dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/8cedef316adf445b9d63aa4b0e07672b
work_keys_str_mv	AT laurajmclennan dentalmicroweartextureanalysisasatoolfordietarydiscriminationinelasmobranchs AT markapurnell dentalmicroweartextureanalysisasatoolfordietarydiscriminationinelasmobranchs
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Dental microwear texture analysis as a tool for dietary discrimination in elasmobranchs

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