A proposed terminology of theropod teeth (Dinosauria, Saurischia)

ABSTRACT

Theropod teeth are typically not described in detail, yet these abundant vertebrate fossils are not only frequently reported in the literature, but also preserve extensive anatomical information. Often in descriptions, important characters of the crown and ornamentations are omitted, and in many instances, authors do not include a description of theropod dentition at all. The paucity of information makes identification of isolated teeth difficult and taxonomic assignments uncertain. Therefore, we here propose a standardization of the anatomical and morphometric terms for tooth anatomical subunits, as well as a methodology to describe isolated teeth comprehensively. As a corollary, this study exposes the importance of detailed anatomical descriptions with the utilitarian purpose of clarifying taxonomy and identifying isolated theropod teeth.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank J. B. Smith, D. Larson, and an anonymous reviewer for excellent critiques at various stages of the manuscript that resulted in substantial improvements. Many thanks also to J. A. Headden and his inspiring blog “The Bite Stuff.” The teeth of many non-avian theropods were examined in several institutions in Europe, United States, Argentina, and Qatar, and we deeply thank B. Britt, P. Sereno, P. Makovicky, W. Simpson, M. Lamanna, A. Henrici, M. Carrano, M. Brett-Surman, S. Chapman, P. Barrett, P. Jeffery, S. Hutt, R. Allain, R. Schoch, H.-J. Siber, C. Dal Sasso, A. Kramarz, F. Novas, R. Barbieri, L. Salgado, J. I. Canale, R. Coria, C. Succar, J. Calvo, R. Martínez, C. Mehling, M. Norell, D. Krauze, J. Groenke, P. Brinkman, L. Zanno, J. Sequeira, F. Krupp, K. Hassan Al-Jaber, Sanker S.B., Y. Dutour, T. Tortosa, and J. Powell for access to specimens in their care. We specially thank P. Sereno, F. Novas, M. Norell, F. Krupp, K. Hassan Al-Jaber, and S. B. Sanker for access to unpublished material. Photographs of theropod teeth were kindly shared by M. Ezcurra, M. Lamanna, R. Delcourt, M. Carrano, S. Brusatte, M. Ellison, C. Foth, P. Currie, J. Canale, C. Dal Sasso, K. Brink, O. Rauhut, R. Benson, E. Tschopp, D. Eddy, V. Shneider, K. Peyer, J. Choiniere, D. Larson, and L. Zanno, and the authors would like to address their sincere thanks to all of these people. Many thanks to Jorge Bar and his Wikipaleo group on Facebook for sharing papers. This research was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) scholarship SFRH/BD/62979/2009 and SFRH/BPD/96205/2013 (Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino superior, Portugal). C.H. dedicates this work to G. A. Martin and E. Buffetaut.

Handling editor: Richard Butler.

Citation for this article: Hendrickx, C., O. Mateus, and R. Araújo. 2015. A proposed terminology of theropod teeth (Dinosauria, Saurischia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2015.982797.