Komodo dragons have sharp, curved, serrated enamel they use to tear aside the flesh of their prey. How do their enamel stand as much as such heavy use? On July 24, 2024, scientists said they’ve found the Komodo dragon’s enamel keep sharp because of a coat of iron. This new discovering can also sometime make clear the feeding traits of carnivorous dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus rex, which had related enamel buildings.
The scientists published these findings within the peer-reviewed journal Nature Ecology & Evolution on July 24, 2024.
Komodo dragons, the biggest lizards alive right now
The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the biggest present lizard species. Males measure round 8.5 ft (2.6 m) in size, whereas females are usually a foot shorter. On common, they weight about 150 kilos (70 kg). Their highly effective jaws maintain sharp, curved, serrated enamel, fitted to tearing off massive items of flesh from their prey. And so they use their forked tongue to scent and style their environment.
These creatures reside solely on a number of islands in Indonesia. Komodo is a type of islands, after which the lizard is known as. Of their pure habitat, Komodo dragons are the biggest predator, searching birds, different reptiles and mammals, reminiscent of deer and water buffalo. They’re additionally carrion feeders.
The Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies Komodo dragons as endangered. Consequently, the Indonesian authorities has put aside protected areas for these large lizards, together with Komodo National Park.
Enamel edges coated in iron
The researchers ran imaging and chemical evaluation on Komodo dragon enamel saved at museums. Additionally they studied enamel from a Komodo dragon that after lived on the London Zoo (that needed to be euthanized attributable to extreme sickness).
Many reptiles have iron of their enamel, the scientists stated. Nonetheless, they found one thing distinctive about how that iron is distributed in Komodo dragon enamel. They discovered iron within the enamel enamel was concentrated in a skinny layer on the enamel serrations and ideas. In impact, the iron acted as a protecting layer to maintain the enamel razor-sharp. As well as, scientists might see the iron as orange-colored stains alongside the enamel edges.
What Komodo dragons inform us about carnivorous dinosaurs
Aaron LeBlanc, of King’s School London, is the lead writer of the paper. He said:
Komodo dragons have curved, serrated enamel to tear and tear their prey similar to these of meat-eating dinosaurs.
We need to use this similarity to study extra about how carnivorous dinosaurs may need eaten and in the event that they used iron of their enamel the identical means because the Komodo dragon.
Sadly, utilizing the expertise now we have for the time being, we are able to’t see whether or not fossilized dinosaur enamel had excessive ranges of iron or not. We predict that the chemical modifications which happen through the fossilization course of obscure how a lot iron was current to start out with.
What we did discover, although, was that bigger meat-eating dinosaurs, like tyrannosaurs, did change the construction of the enamel itself on the reducing edges of their enamel. So, whereas Komodo dragons have altered the chemistry of their enamel, some dinosaurs altered the construction of their dental enamel to keep up a pointy leading edge.
With additional evaluation of the Komodo enamel we could possibly discover different markers within the iron coating that aren’t modified throughout fossilization. With markers like that we’d know with certainty whether or not dinosaurs additionally had iron-coated enamel and have a better understanding of those ferocious predators.
Backside line: A coating of iron retains the curved, serrated enamel of Komodo dragons razor-sharp. This new discovering can also make clear the feeding traits of carnivorous dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus rex, which had related enamel buildings.
Source: Iron-coated Komodo dragon teeth and the complex dental enamel of carnivorous reptiles
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