Rodolfo A. García
and Virginia Zurriaguz
Dental histology of periodontal
tissues (cementum, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone) has been studied in
mammals, crocodylians and some basal tetrapods, but these structures have never
been studied in titanosaur sauropods. The goal of this work was to study the
structures of dental insertion in Titanosaurs. Like many physiological processes,
histological analysis of titanosaur teeth shows hard tissue formation,
characterized by a circadian rhythm. From thin sections it was possible to
observe microstructures such as incremental lines of von Ebner, dentinal
tubules and cross striations, all key to the understanding of developmental
tooth dynamics. The structural and histological analyses carried out here on
teeth of Late Cretaceous titanosaurs reveals the presence of acellular and
cellular cementum, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone, all structures
necessary for a truly thecodont dentition. This is the first time documented
for a dinosaur via histological tissue, and is an important finding that will
help elucidate aspects of dinosaurian dentition, tooth replacement rate,
feeding strategy, metabolism, and general biology.
García, R. A. and Zurriaguz, V.
2016. Histology of teeth and tooth attachment in titanosaurs (Dinosauria; Sauropoda)
Cretaceous Research 57: 248-256. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2015.09.006
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