While research studies have shown how various dinosaurs ate their food, extremely little is understood about how they developed their favored eating styles. In a new research study, scientists discovered a surprising variety of differences in the way these extinct animals that used to dominate the planet dealt with a plant-based diet plan, rebuilding jaw muscles and measuring the dinosaurs bite force.
” When we compared the practical performance of the skull and teeth of these plant-eating dinosaurs, we found considerable differences in the relative sizes of the jaw muscles, bite forces and jaw strength in between them,” research study lead author David Button said in a declaration, which shows they had progressed various methods of tackling their diet.
These are the earliest representatives of what would later end up being the biggest herbivore dinosaur group. While they were all vegetarian, the five animals progressed in various ways and had a variety of adaptations to eating plants. The finding could bring more light into how dinosaurs developed to take certain eco-friendly niches, the researchers said.
A Heterodontosaurus design. Image credit: Wikipedia Commons.
A group of researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom used CT scans of dinosaur skulls to track the evolution of early herbivores. They evaluated 5 skulls of dinosaurs from the plant-eating group Ornithischia, including Heterodontosaurus, Lesothosaurus, Scelidosaurus, Hypsilophodon, and Psittacosaurus.
Herbivores and their feeding routines
After performing CT scans on the fossils, the scientists reconstructed jaw muscles using data from living types, such as birds and crocodiles, to determine where the muscles would have been. They did a “limited component analysis,” a numerical method that divides a surface location into lots of smaller parts to forecast how a model will react to forces in the genuine world, and computed the bite force of the muscles based on their size and arrangement.
Hypsilophodons skull didnt have huge muscles so it reoriented them to bite more efficiently with less muscle force.
The research study was released in the journal Current Biology.
Bite performance contrast throughout the 5 ornithischian dinosaurs in the research study (David Button/Natural History Museum/PA).
During simulations, the skulls bit an imaginary item so researchers could see how different aspects react to the applied force. Heat maps revealed the locations of the skull that are strongly stressed and the ones that arent. The outcomes showed that all dinosaurs involved in the study consumed plants however that each had their own different method of tackling it.
These are the earliest agents of what would later become the largest herbivore dinosaur group. The finding could bring more light into how dinosaurs evolved to take particular environmental niches, the researchers stated.
” Some made up for low consuming efficiency through their large size, whilst others developed larger jaw muscles, increased jaw system efficiency, or combined these approaches. These animals looked very comparable, their specific services to the exact same problems shows the unpredictable nature of evolution,” research study author Stephan Lautenschlager stated in a statement.
Reconstructions of the jaws and skulls together with diagrams of where the jaw muscles connect in each dinosaur.
Heterodontosaurus, for example, seems to have big jaw muscles relative to its skull size, producing a high bite force thats perfect to eat hard plant life. Scelidosaurus had a similar bite force but smaller sized jaw muscles. Hypsilophodons skull didnt have huge muscles so it reoriented them to bite more efficiently with less muscle force.
The results showed that all dinosaurs involved in the study consumed plants but that each had their own different method of going about it.