A new marine reptile from the Triassic of China, with a highly specialized feeding adaptation

doi:10.1007/s00114-014-1148-4

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	A new marine reptile from the Triassic of China, with a highly specialized feeding adaptation
	Cheng, Long 5; Chen, Xiao-Hong ; Shang, Qing-Hua ; Wu, Xiao-Chun
刊名	NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN
	2014
卷号	101 期号:3 页码:251-259
关键词	Diapsida Bottom-filter feeding Middle Triassic Yunnan China
ISSN号	0028-1042
DOI	10.1007/s00114-014-1148-4
英文摘要	The Luoping fauna (Anisian, Middle Triassic) is probably the oldest of Triassic faunas in Guizhou-Yunnan area, China. The reptilian assemblage is comprised of ichthyosaurs, a number of sauropterygians (pachypleurosaur-like forms), saurosphargids, protorosaurs, and archosauriforms. Here, we report on a peculiar reptile, newly found in this fauna. Its dentition is fence or comb-like and bears more than 175 pleurodont teeth in each ramus of the upper and lower jaws, tooth crown is needle-like distally and blade-shaped proximally; its rostrum strongly bends downward and the anterior end of its mandible expands both dorsally and ventrally to form a shovel-headed structure; and its ungual phalanges are hoof-shaped. The specializations of the jaws and dentition indicate that the reptile may have been adapted to a way of bottom-filter feeding in water. It is obvious that such delicate teeth are not strong enough to catch prey, but were probably used as a barrier to filter microorganisms or benthic invertebrates such as sea worms. These were collected by the specialized jaws, which may have functioned as a shovel or pushdozer (the mandible) and a grasper or scratcher (the rostrum). Our preliminary analysis suggests that the new reptile might be more closely related to the Sauropterygia than to other marine reptiles.
学科主题	古生物学
WOS关键词	REVISION ; DIAPSIDA
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
语种	英语
出版者	SPRINGER
WOS记录号	WOS:000332093800009
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://119.78.100.197/handle/2HKVOGP0/40281]
专题	中国地质调查局武汉地质调查中心
作者单位	1.[Cheng, Long 2.Wuhan Inst Geol & Mineral Resources, Wuhan 430223, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Lab Evolutionary Systemat Vertebrates, Beijing 100044, Peoples R China 4.Canadian Museum Nat, Ottawa, ON K1P 6P4, Canada 5.中国地质调查局武汉地质调查中心
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Cheng, Long,Chen, Xiao-Hong,Shang, Qing-Hua,et al. A new marine reptile from the Triassic of China, with a highly specialized feeding adaptation[J]. NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN,2014,101(3):251-259.
APA	Cheng, Long,Chen, Xiao-Hong,Shang, Qing-Hua,&Wu, Xiao-Chun.(2014).A new marine reptile from the Triassic of China, with a highly specialized feeding adaptation.NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN,101(3),251-259.
MLA	Cheng, Long,et al."A new marine reptile from the Triassic of China, with a highly specialized feeding adaptation".NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 101.3(2014):251-259.