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5 April 2024 A New Species of Palacrodon and a Unique Form of Tooth Attachment in Reptiles
Kelsey M. Jenkins, Christopher J. Bell, P. John Hancox, Patrick J. Lewis
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Abstract

Palacrodon, a near-crown stem reptile, is known from several Triassic sites across the globe, and is easily recognized by its dentition characterized by labiolingually expanded molariform teeth coupled with acrodont tooth implantation. Here we explore the nature of tooth implantation and attachment in specimens of Palacrodon from South Africa and Arizona, U.S.A. using µCT. We note the presence of unusual ridges located underneath the tooth crowns in Palacrodon browni. Such ridges are not present in specimens from Arizona, which warrants the naming of a new species P. parkeri. We conducted a broad survey of internal tooth morphology across extant and extinct pan-reptiles (n = 212), and we conclude that homologous ridges like those we observe in P. browni are not present in any other species of reptile. As such, our ability to determine the function of the ridges is limited, though we hypothesize it is related to tooth attachment via unmineralized soft tissues.

Kelsey M. Jenkins, Christopher J. Bell, P. John Hancox, and Patrick J. Lewis "A New Species of Palacrodon and a Unique Form of Tooth Attachment in Reptiles," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 43(5), (5 April 2024). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2024.2328658
Received: 2 February 2024; Accepted: 1 March 2024; Published: 5 April 2024
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