In the history of animals, dangerous and strong teeth are seen only in carnivorous animals. The teeth of the big shark Megaloden also used to be such that they used to fall off quickly and grow again. But whether the teeth are big and strong or grow again and again, such animals are and used to be carnivorous. But in a new study, scientists have got surprising results. They have found that in the Cretaceous period, the most advanced herbivorous dinosaurs, known as hadrosaurs, used to grow thousands of teeth in their lifetime.
Thousands of teeth in one life!
In the study, it is revealed that these dinosaurs evolved thousands of teeth due to their voracious appetite for plants. The researchers looked at the evolution of ornithopods, a group of dinosaurs that included Iguanodon, Hypsilophodon, rare rhabdodontids, and hadrosaurs. At the end of the Cretaceous period, these herbivorous dinosaurs ruled over vast areas of the planet.
Earlier it used to take time for teeth to fall out
The research, led by Dr. Attila Osi of Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, highlights that the teeth and jaws of ornithopods went through drastic changes during their evolution. Iguanodon, an early member of the ornithopods, took more than 200 days to form its teeth and the same amount of time was spent on the wear and tear of the teeth due to chewing.
Important changes occurred in hadrosaurs
In the late Cretaceous, hadrosaurs were seen gnawing away their teeth in just 50 days. Teeth development in dinosaurs According to the researchers, ornithopods fed on tough plants, which caused their teeth to wear out quickly.
A lot of changes were seen in the teeth of many dinosaurs. (Symbolic picture: Canva)
“Over the course of a herbivore’s life, its teeth gradually wear down,” said study co-author Professor Paul Barrett. Due to the constant wear and tear, some dinosaurs eventually lost their teeth, but they solved this problem by constantly making new ones.
“Initially, they had a single row of fairly simple teeth with limited wear, probably because these dinosaurs focused on fruits and soft plants,” Professor Paul said. These early ornithopods evolved into hadrosaurs that had multiple teeth, with ridges on one side and large blade-like edges on the other.
Tags: Amazing news, Bizarre news, OMG News, Weird news
FIRST PUBLISHED : September 3, 2024, 11:19 IST
