Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27974573›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2016

Dietary adaptions in the ultrastructure of dinosaur dentine.

Kirstin S Brink, Yu-Cheng Chen, Ya-Na Wu, Wei-Min Liu, Dar-Bin Shieh, Timothy D Huang, Chi-Kuang Sun, Robert R Reisz

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Diet of bird-like troodontid dinosaurs: synthesis of a contentious clade.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Kirstin S BrinkDepartment of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5 L 1C6 brinkkir@dentistry.ubc.ca.ORCID 0000-0001-6630-1525
Yu-Cheng ChenMolecular Imaging Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Ya-Na WuInstitute of Oral Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan 701, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Wei-Min LiuDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Dar-Bin ShiehInstitute of Oral Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan 701, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Timothy D HuangDinosaur Evolution Research Center, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130012, People's Republic of China.
Chi-Kuang SunMolecular Imaging Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Robert R ReiszDepartment of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5 L 1C6.
National Taiwan University · TWNational Cheng Kung University · TWNational Chung Hsing University · TWUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Teeth are key to understanding the feeding ecology of both extant and extinct vertebrates. Recent studies have highlighted the previously unrecognized complexity of dinosaur dentitions and how specific tooth tissues and tooth shapes differ between taxa with different diets. However, it is unknown how the ultrastructure of these tooth tissues contributes to the differences in feeding style between taxa. In this study, we use third harmonic generation microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to examine the ultrastructure of the dentine in herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs to understand how the structure of this tissue contributes to the overall utility of the tooth. Morphometric analyses of dentinal tubule diameter, density and branching rates reveal a strong signal for dietary preferences, with herbivorous saurischian and ornithischian dinosaurs consistently having higher dentinal tubule density than their carnivorous relatives. We hypothesize that this relates to the hardness of the dentine, where herbivorous taxa have dentine that is more resistant to breakage and wear at the dentine-enamel junction than carnivorous taxa. This study advocates the detailed study of dentine and the use of advanced microscopy techniques to understand the evolution of dentition and feeding ecology in extinct vertebrates.

Indexed as

AnimalsCarnivoryDentinDinosaursdentine tubulemorphometricsmultiple harmonicsscanning electron microscopythird harmonic generation microscopytooth

Identifiers

PMID27974573
PMCPMC5221525
OpenAlexW2567130979

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.