Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32382025›Full record

ArticleNature communications2020

Early Jurassic dinosaur fetal dental development and its significance for the evolution of sauropod dentition.

Robert R Reisz, Aaron R H LeBlanc, Hillary C Maddin, Thomas W Dudgeon, Diane Scott, Timothy Huang, Jun Chen, Chuan-Mu Chen, Shiming Zhong

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 15% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Swiss journal of palaeontology · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
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

9 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.

Robert R ReiszDinosaur Evolution Research Centre and International Centre of Future Science, Jilin University, Changchun, 130000, Jilin, China. robert.reisz@utoronto.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7454-1649
Aaron R H LeBlancDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2497-1296
Hillary C MaddinDepartment of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
Thomas W DudgeonDepartment of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
Diane ScottDepartment of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada.
Timothy HuangDinosaur Evolution Research Centre and International Centre of Future Science, Jilin University, Changchun, 130000, Jilin, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5381-2596
Jun ChenDinosaur Evolution Research Centre and International Centre of Future Science, Jilin University, Changchun, 130000, Jilin, China.
Chuan-Mu ChenNational Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 40227, Taiwan.
Shiming ZhongChuxiong Prefectural Museum, Chuxiong, 675000, Yunnan, China.
National Chung Hsing University · TWCarleton University · CAAnhui Geological Museum · CNJilin University · CNUniversity of Alberta · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rare occurrences of dinosaurian embryos are punctuated by even rarer preservation of their development. Here we report on dental development in multiple embryos of the Early Jurassic Lufengosaurus from China, and compare these to patterns in a hatchling and adults. Histology and CT data show that dental formation and development occurred early in ontogeny, with several cycles of tooth development without root resorption occurring within a common crypt prior to hatching. This differs from the condition in hatchling and adult teeth of Lufengosaurus, and is reminiscent of the complex dentitions of some adult sauropods, suggesting that their derived dental systems likely evolved through paedomorphosis. Ontogenetic changes in successive generations of embryonic teeth of Lufengosaurus suggest that the pencil-like teeth in many sauropods also evolved via paedomorphosis, providing a mechanism for the convergent evolution of small, structurally simple teeth in giant diplodocoids and titanosaurids. Therefore, such developmental perturbations, more commonly associated with small vertebrates, were likely also essential events in sauropod evolution.

Indexed as

DentitionDinosaursFossilsAnimalsBiological EvolutionPhylogeny

Identifiers

PMID32382025
PMCPMC7206009
OpenAlexW3022184231

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.