Complex food preference analysis of the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) lizards from Iharkút (Bakony Mountains, Hungary)

ABSTRACT

The Upper Cretaceous Iharkút vertebrate locality (Bakony Mountains, Hungary) provided a diverse lizard fauna. In order to infer their food preference, jaw and tooth morphology, as well as dental macro- and microwear, were analysed. Due to preservation, only specimens of three taxa (Chromatogenys, Bicuspidon, ‘Scincomorpha indet. A’) were studied. Extant lizards, including omnivores, durophages, insectivores, molluscivores and a herbivore, were used as analogies for interpretation. Based on morphological and dental wear studies, Chromatogenys seems to have consumed and processed hard objects regularly with its enlarged posterior teeth. In contrast, Bicuspidon with its complex bicuspid teeth might have fed on both softer and harder food items, and according to dental wear analysis, its diet can be placed between herbivory and insectivory. The sharply pointed teeth and jaw morphology of ‘Scincomorpha indet. A’ are comparable to recent insectivorous taxa though tooth crown morphology is most similar to burrowing species. This investigation is considered as a pilot study providing insight into the complexity of food chains of the Late Cretaceous Iharkút terrestrial communities. Furthermore, our results clearly demonstrate that the two-dimensional dental microwear analysis works well on the small (tooth crown diameter less than 1 mm) teeth of both extinct and extant lizards.

KEYWORDS:

• Squamates
• tooth wear
• feeding preference
• Late Cretaceous
• recent forms
• Hungary

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Hungarian Natural History Museum (Department of Palaeontology and Geology: Zoltán Szentesi) for the availability of the Iharkút fossil material and to Patrick Campbell and the Natural History Museum London for granting access to their comparative lizard collection. We also thank Krisztina Buczkó for the SEM imaging; and Márton Szabó and Réka Kalmár for their technical help. The useful advices of Attila Virág are greatly appreciated. This research was funded by National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary (NKFIH K 131597 to AŐ; NKFIH FK 130190 and PD 130627 to EB), the Eötvös Loránd University (Department of Palaeontology, ELTE Dinosaur Research Group), and the Mining and Geological Survey project FKFO-11.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH K 131597, NKFIH FK 130190, PD 130627); the Eötvös Loránd University (Department of Palaeontology, ELTE Dinosaur Research Group); the Mining and Geological Survey project FKFO-11