ArticleNature ecology & evolution2024
Iron-coated Komodo dragon teeth and the complex dental enamel of carnivorous reptiles.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Histology and fossil diagenesis of a pterosaur tooth from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous of Brazil).Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- Divergence at the IRX gene cluster underlies extreme trophic polymorphism in a cichlid fish (Herichthys minckleyi).Communications biology · 2026Article
- Ultralong Hydroxyapatite Nanowires: Promising Flexible Building Blocks for Constructing High-Performance Biomimetic Materials-A Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Multimodal Characterization of Rodent Dental Development.ACS applied materials & interfaces · 2025Article
- Varanid Teeth Asymmetry and Correlation to Body Size.Journal of developmental biology · 2025Article
- Looking back on 2024.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
- Multi-modal characterization of rodent tooth development.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Lungfish-like antero-labial tooth addition and amphibian-like enameloid-enamel transition in the coronoid of a Devonian stem actinopterygian.Journal of anatomyArticle
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17 authors.
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Abstract
Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are the largest extant predatory lizards and their ziphodont (serrated, curved and blade-shaped) teeth make them valuable analogues for studying tooth structure, function and comparing with extinct ziphodont taxa, such as theropod dinosaurs. Like other ziphodont reptiles, V. komodoensis teeth possess only a thin coating of enamel that is nevertheless able to cope with the demands of their puncture-pull feeding. Using advanced chemical and structural imaging, we reveal that V. komodoensis teeth possess a unique adaptation for maintaining their cutting edges: orange, iron-enriched coatings on their tooth serrations and tips. Comparisons with other extant varanids and crocodylians revealed that iron sequestration is probably widespread in reptile enamels but it is most striking in V. komodoensis and closely related ziphodont species, suggesting a crucial role in supporting serrated teeth. Unfortunately, fossilization confounds our ability to consistently detect similar iron coatings in fossil teeth, including those of ziphodont dinosaurs. However, unlike V. komodoensis, some theropods possessed specialized enamel along their tooth serrations, resembling the wavy enamel found in herbivorous hadrosaurid dinosaurs. These discoveries illustrate unexpected and disparate specializations for maintaining ziphodont teeth in predatory reptiles.
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