June 30, 2009 -- Think you grind your teeth? Pity the ancient hadrosaur. Their jaws weren't hinged in the same way as modern people and animals, and researchers have long wondered how these ancient animals handled food. A new study on scratch marks on hadrosaur teeth sheds some light on the subject, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "For millions of years, until their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, duck-billed dinosaurs -- or hadrosaurs -- were the world's dominant herbivores. They must have been able to break down their food somehow, but without the complex jaw joint of mammals they would not have been able to chew in the same way," paleontologist Mark Purnell of the University of Leicester in England said in a statement. The pattern of scratches on the hadrosaur indicates that the movements of hadrosaur teeth were complex, involving up and down, sideways and front to back motion. Related Content:
Paul Barrett, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London said the finding shows that hadrosaurs did chew, but in a completely different way from anything alive today. They had a hinge between the upper jaws and the rest of the skull so that "when they bit down on their food the upper jaws were forced outwards, flexing along this hinge so that the tooth surfaces slid sideways across each other, grinding and shredding food in the process," he said in a statement.Get More NewsSpiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest CreaturesMany creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing DuetsWhite-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates.Oldest Hebrew Writing Possibly FoundAncient inscriptions on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard could make history.Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.A tuatara has been spotted on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in 200 years.Iceman Has No Living RelativesOetzi, the 5,300 year-old frozen mummy, left no living genetic legacy.SLIDE SHOW: Landscapes of TerrorWhat makes a place feel scary? There are scientific explanations.It's Official: People Are Warming the PolesHumans are conclusively to blame for polar warming, say scientists.Eight-Armed Animal Preceded DinosaursWhat may be one of Earth's first animals was no bigger than a coaster and had eight arms.Phoenicians Live on in People's GenesOne in 17 Mediterranean men may be descended from ancient Phoenicians.Pesticides, Fertilizers Linked to Frog DeclineA pesticide is found to promote parasites among amphibians.Hubble Telescope Taking Photos AgainThe Hubble Space Telescope is once again snapping stunning photos of the universe.Andean Mummy Hairs Show Hallucinogen UseScientists find direct evidence of hallucinogenic drug use among ancient Andeans.Opals on Mars Reveal Planet's Long Wet PastOpals found on Mars suggest the planet has been wet for much longer. |
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