ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2020
Ultramicrostructural reductions in teeth: implications for dietary transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Diet of bird-like troodontid dinosaurs: synthesis of a contentious clade.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Convergent evolutionary shifts in AGT targeting between mitochondria and peroxisomes across mammal transitions to herbivory.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Intra-gastric phytoliths provide evidence for folivory in basal avialans of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Comparative microstructural study on the teeth of Mesozoic birds and non-avian dinosaurs.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Quantitative investigation of pengornithid enantiornithine diet reveals macrocarnivorous ecology evolved in birds by Early Cretaceous.iScience · 2023Article
- Article
- Diet of Mesozoic toothed birds (Longipterygidae) inferred from quantitative analysis of extant avian diet proxies.BMC biology · 2022Article
- Novel evolution of a hyper-elongated tongue in a Cretaceous enantiornithine from China and the evolution of the hyolingual apparatus and feeding in birds.Journal of anatomy · 2022Article
- The evolutionary and functional implications of the unusual quadrate of Longipteryx chaoyangensis (Avialae: Enantiornithes) from the Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- The diet of early birds based on modern and fossil evidence and a new framework for its reconstruction.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2021Review
- Dinosaur biodiversity declined well before the asteroid impact, influenced by ecological and environmental pressures.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Molecular phyloecology suggests a trophic shift concurrent with the evolution of the first birds.Communications biology · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTooth morphology within theropod dinosaurs has been extensively investigated and shows high disparity throughout the Cretaceous. Changes or diversification in feeding ecology, i.e., adoption of an herbivorous diet (e.g., granivorous), is proposed as a major driver of tooth evolution in Paraves (e.g., Microraptor, troodontids and avialans). Here, we studied the microscopic features of paravian non-avian theropod and avialan teeth using high-spatial-resolution synchrotron transmission X-ray microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.
resultsWe show that avialan teeth are characterized by the presence of simple enamel structures and a lack of porous mantle dentin between the enamel and orthodentin. Reduced internal structures of teeth took place independently in Early Cretaceous birds and a Microraptor specimen, implying that shifts in diet in avialans from that of closely related dinosaurs may correlate with a shift in feeding ecology during the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds.
conclusionDifferent lines of evidence all suggest a large reduction in biting force affecting the evolution of teeth in the dinosaur-bird transition. Changes in teeth microstructure and associated dietary shift may have contributed to the early evolutionary success of stemward birds in the shadow of other non-avian theropods.
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