Maiasaura juvenile tooth wear supports parental care by adults (free pdf)
63 views
Skip to first unread message
Ben Creisler
Mar 11, 2026, 1:14:17 PM (2 days ago) Mar 11
to DinosaurMa...@googlegroups.com
Ben Creisler
John P. Hunter & Christine M. Janis (2026)
Tooth wear in juvenile and adult hadrosaurs: implications for parental care in Maiasaura
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 113707
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113707
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018226001707
A new paper:
Free pdf:
John P. Hunter & Christine M. Janis (2026)
Tooth wear in juvenile and adult hadrosaurs: implications for parental care in Maiasaura
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 113707
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113707
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018226001707
Highlights
Rapid growth in altricial maiasaur young would have required selective provisioning.
Nestling maiasaurs had worn dental batteries with more ‘crushing’ wear than adults.
% crushing wear reflects proportion of non-fibrous dietary items in extant mammals.
Wear indicates higher-quality, lower-fiber diet in maiasaur nestlings than adults.
Provisioning of young by adults with high quality food a bird-like behavioral trait.
Abstract
Juveniles of the hadrosaurian dinosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum exhibit different proportions of wear types in the dental batteries than seen in adult hadrosaurs. We interpret the wear types in hadrosaur teeth, by analogy with those of living mammalian herbivores, to be ‘shearing’ (indicative of trituration of fibrous food items such as mature leaves) and ‘crushing’ (indicative of trituration of more succulent, higher protein food items such as berries or nuts). Quantification of the dental wear patterns shows that juvenile maiasaurs exhibit significantly more crushing wear than adults. The proportions of shear to crush wear in the juveniles resembles that seen in extant mammals with a frugivorous/folivorous diet, whereas the proportions in the adults resemble those seen in extant mammals with a diet of high fiber content. We interpret these findings, in the light of other studies suggesting parental care through provisioning of young at the nest in maiasaurs, to mean that the adults may have been bringing food to the nest of a higher protein content than they themselves ate, behavior typical of certain extant birds.
Rapid growth in altricial maiasaur young would have required selective provisioning.
Nestling maiasaurs had worn dental batteries with more ‘crushing’ wear than adults.
% crushing wear reflects proportion of non-fibrous dietary items in extant mammals.
Wear indicates higher-quality, lower-fiber diet in maiasaur nestlings than adults.
Provisioning of young by adults with high quality food a bird-like behavioral trait.
Abstract
Juveniles of the hadrosaurian dinosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum exhibit different proportions of wear types in the dental batteries than seen in adult hadrosaurs. We interpret the wear types in hadrosaur teeth, by analogy with those of living mammalian herbivores, to be ‘shearing’ (indicative of trituration of fibrous food items such as mature leaves) and ‘crushing’ (indicative of trituration of more succulent, higher protein food items such as berries or nuts). Quantification of the dental wear patterns shows that juvenile maiasaurs exhibit significantly more crushing wear than adults. The proportions of shear to crush wear in the juveniles resembles that seen in extant mammals with a frugivorous/folivorous diet, whereas the proportions in the adults resemble those seen in extant mammals with a diet of high fiber content. We interpret these findings, in the light of other studies suggesting parental care through provisioning of young at the nest in maiasaurs, to mean that the adults may have been bringing food to the nest of a higher protein content than they themselves ate, behavior typical of certain extant birds.
====
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages