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Link to original content: http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35845848/
Sauropod dinosaur teeth from the lower Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia and the global record of early titanosauriforms - PubMed Skip to main page content
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. 2022 Jul 13;9(7):220381.
doi: 10.1098/rsos.220381. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Sauropod dinosaur teeth from the lower Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia and the global record of early titanosauriforms

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Sauropod dinosaur teeth from the lower Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia and the global record of early titanosauriforms

Stephen F Poropat et al. R Soc Open Sci. .

Abstract

The Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, has produced several partial sauropod skeletons, but cranial remains-including teeth-remain rare. Herein, we present the first description of sauropod teeth from this formation, based on specimens from three separate sites. An isolated tooth and a dentary fragment from the Diamantinasaurus matildae type locality are considered to be referable to that titanosaurian taxon. A single tooth from the D. matildae referred specimen site is similarly regarded as being part of that individual. Seventeen teeth from a new site that are morphologically uniform, and similar to the teeth from the two Diamantinasaurus sites, are assigned to Diamantinasauria. All sauropod teeth recovered from the Winton Formation to date are compressed-cone-chisel-shaped, have low slenderness index values (2.00-2.88), are lingually curved at their apices, mesiodistally convex on their lingual surfaces, and lack prominent carinae and denticles. They are markedly different from the chisel-like teeth of derived titanosaurs, more closely resembling the teeth of early branching members of the titanosauriform radiation. This provides further support for a 'basal' titanosaurian position for Diamantinasauria. Scanning electron microscope microwear analysis of the wear facets of several teeth reveals more scratches than pits, implying that diamantinasaurians were mid-height (1-10 m) feeders. With a view to assessing the spatio-temporal distribution of sauropod tooth morphotypes before and after deposition of the Winton Formation, we provide a comprehensive continent-by-continent review of the early titanosauriform global record (Early to early Late Cretaceous). This indicates that throughout the Early-early Late Cretaceous, sauropod faunas transitioned from being quite diverse at higher phylogenetic levels and encompassing a range of tooth morphologies at the start of the Berriasian, to faunas comprising solely titanosaurs with limited dental variability by the end-Turonian. Furthermore, this review highlights the different ways in which this transition unfolded on each continent, including the earliest records of titanosaurs with narrow-crowned teeth on each continent.

Keywords: Diamantinasauria; Sauropoda; Titanosauriformes; Winton Formation; microwear; palaeobiogeography.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare we have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(a) Map of Australia with Queensland highlighted (modified from Poropat et al. [16]). (b) Map of Queensland with the distribution of Winton Formation outcrop plotted (modified from Poropat et al. [16]). (c) Map of Winton with the Winton Formation outcrop plotted, the location of Elderslie and Belmont Stations indicated, and numerous other cattle/sheep stations and sites in the region from which sauropod dinosaur remains have been collected and/or in which they are on display. Map drafted by the senior author (S.F.P.) in Adobe Illustrator CC 2017 (modified from Pentland et al. [34]), incorporating geological information from Vine [35] and Vine & Casey [36] (© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2021. This product is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Diamantinasaurus matildae AODF 603 (AODL 85) dentary fragment and tooth. (a–f) Right dentary fragment (AODF 603) in occlusal (a), occluso–lingual (b), labial (c), mesial (d), lingual (e) and distal (f) views. (g–l) Tooth (AODF 603) in apical (g), basal (h), labial (i), mesial or distal (j), lingual (k) and mesial or distal (l) views. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Diamantinasaurus matildae AODF 2298 (AODL 127) tooth (possibly from the same individual as AODF 836). (a–o) Right upper tooth in mesial (a,b), mesiolabial (c), labial (d), distolabial (e,f), distal (g,h), distolingual (i), lingual (j), mesiolingual (k,l), apical (m,n) and basal (o) views. (a), (e), (g), (k), (m) and (o) are photographs; all other images are screenshots of digital models. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Titanosauria (?Diamantinasauria) indet. teeth AODF 963 and 1531 (AODL 270). (a–i) Left dentary tooth (AODF 963) in mesial (a,b), labial (c,d), distal (e,f), lingual (g,h) and apical (i) views. (j–o) Right dentary tooth attached to possible dentary fragment (AODF 1531) in distal (j,k), mesial (l,m) and lingual (n,o) views. (a), (c), (e), (g), (j), (l) and (n) are photographs; all other images are screenshots of digital models. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Titanosauria (?Diamantinasauria) indet. teeth AODF 984 and 985 (AODL 270). (a–o) Right dentary tooth (AODF 984) in distal (a,b), labial (c,d), mesial (e,f), lingual (g,h) and apical (i) views. (j–r) Left dentary tooth (AODF 985) in apical (j), mesial (k,l), labial (m,n), distal (o,p) and lingual (q,r) views. (a), (c), (e), (g), (k), (m), (o) and (q) are photographs; all other images are screenshots of digital models. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Titanosauria (?Diamantinasauria) indet. teeth AODF 1285 and 1286 (AODL 270). (a–k) Right dentary tooth (AODF 1285) in distal (a,b), labial (c,d), mesial (e,f), lingual (g,h) and apical (ik) views. (l–s) Left dentary tooth (AODF 1286) in mesial (l,m), labial (n,o), distal (p,q) and lingual (r,s) views. (a), (c), (e), (g), (i), (j), (l), (n), (p) and (r) are photographs; all other images are screenshots of digital models. Scale bars = 10 mm.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Titanosauria (?Diamantinasauria) indet. teeth AODF 2291, 2292 and 2293 (AODL 270). (a–i) Right dentary tooth (AODF 2291) in distal (a,b), labial (c,d), mesial (e,f), lingual (g,h) and apical (i) views. (j–r) Right dentary tooth (AODF 2292) in apical (j), distal (k,l), labial (m,n), mesial (o,p) and lingual (q,r) views. (sad) Left dentary tooth (AODF 2293) in apical (s,u), lingual (t,v), mesiolingual (w,x), mesial (y), labial (z,aa), distolabial (ab,ac) and distal (ad) views. (a), (c), (e), (g), (k), (m), (o), (q), (s), (t), (w), (z) and (ab) are photographs; all other images are screenshots of digital models. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Titanosauria (?Diamantinasauria) indet. teeth AODF 2294 and 2295 (AODL 270). (a–j) Right dentary tooth (AODF 2294) in distal (a,b), labial (c,d), mesial (e,f), apical (g,h) and lingual (i,j) views. (k–w) Right dentary tooth (AODF 2295) in distolingual (k,l), distal (m), labial (n,o), mesiolabial (p,q), mesial (r), apical (s,t), mesiolingual (u,v) and lingual (w) views. (a), (c), (e), (g), (i), (k), (n), (p), (s) and (u) are photographs; all other images are screenshots of digital models. Scale bar = 10 mm.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Scanning electron micrographs of microwear features preserved on the Titanosauria (?Diamantinasauria) indet. teeth from the Winton Formation. (a) AODF 1285 displaying the roughened dentine within the enamel wear facet. (b) AODF 963 featuring the large ‘gouge’ like pits. (c) AODF 985 showing mostly parallel scratches with some cross-scratching. (d) AODF 1531 displaying roughened apical texture. Scale bar = 200 µm in (ac) = 500 µm in (d).
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
Chart of Berriasian–Turonian sauropod dinosaur spatio-temporal distribution. Note that the timespan indicated for each taxon does not necessarily represent its temporal distribution; more often than not, it simply indicates the range of possible ages that can be applied to the stratigraphic unit in which it was found. The Coniacian is only included on this chart so that uncertainty can be indicated in the stratigraphic ranges of Baalsaurus, Huabeisaurus, Rukwatitan and Shingopana. Sauropod taxa to which the oldest ascribed age is Coniacian have not been included.

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