Directorate 'Earth and History of Life', Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000, Brussels, Belgium.
Université de Poitiers, IPHEP, UMR CNRS 7262, 86073, Poitiers, France.
Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 26;7(1):13098. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-13160-2.
Rhabdodontidae is a successful clade of ornithopod dinosaurs, characteristic of Late Cretaceous continental faunas in Europe. A new rhabdodontid from the late Campanian, of southern France, Matheronodon provincialis gen. et sp. nov., is characterized by the extreme enlargement of both its maxillary and dentary teeth, correlated to a drastic reduction in the number of maxillary teeth (4 per generation in MMS/VBN-02-102). The interalveolar septa on the maxilla are alternately present or resorbed ventrally so as to be able to lodge such enlarged teeth. The rhabdodontid dentition and masticatory apparatus were adapted for producing a strict and powerful shearing action, resembling a pair of scissors. With their relatively simple dentition, contrasting with the sophisticated dental batteries in contemporary hadrosaurids, Matheronodon and other rhabdodontids are tentatively interpreted as specialized consumers of tough plant parts rich in sclerenchyma fibers, such as Sabalites and Pandanites.
棱齿龙科是鸟脚亚目恐龙中的一个成功分支，以欧洲晚白垩世的陆生动物群为特征。一种来自法国南部晚坎潘期的新棱齿龙类，马瑟龙属（Matheronodon）省种，模式种为 M. provincialis，其特征是上颌骨和齿骨的牙齿极度增大，与上颌骨牙齿数量的急剧减少相关（MMS/VBN-02-102 中每一代有 4 颗牙齿）。上颌骨的牙槽间隔在腹面交替存在或被吸收，以便容纳如此大的牙齿。棱齿龙类的牙齿和咀嚼器官适应于产生严格而有力的剪切作用，类似于一对剪刀。与同时代的鸭嘴龙类复杂的牙齿电池相比，马瑟龙和其他棱齿龙类的牙齿相对简单，它们被暂时解释为专门食用富含厚壁纤维的坚韧植物部分的消费者，如萨贝利特和潘丹特。
