Iron-coated Komodo dragon teeth and the complex dental enamel of carnivorous reptiles

Komodo dragons ( Varanus komodoensis ) are the largest extant predatory lizards and their ziphodont (serrated, curved and blade-shaped) teeth make them valuable analogues for studying tooth structure, function and comparing with extinct ziphodont taxa, such as theropod dinosaurs. Like other ziphodon...

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Published in:	Nature ecology & evolution Vol. 8; no. 9; pp. 1711 - 1722
Main Authors:	LeBlanc, Aaron R. H., Morrell, Alexander P., Sirovica, Slobodan, Al-Jawad, Maisoon, Labonte, David, D’Amore, Domenic C., Clemente, Christofer, Wang, Siyang, Giuliani, Finn, McGilvery, Catriona M., Pittman, Michael, Kaye, Thomas G., Stevenson, Colin, Capon, Joe, Tapley, Benjamin, Spiro, Simon, Addison, Owen
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-09-2024 Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:	631/181/414 631/601/2721 Adaptation Animals Animals, Poisonous Biological and Physical Anthropology Biomedical and Life Sciences Carnivory Coatings Dental Enamel Dinosaurs Ecology Enamel Evolutionary Biology Fossils - anatomy & histology Iron Iron - analysis Life Sciences Lizards Lizards - physiology Paleontology Reptiles Reptiles & amphibians Structure-function relationships Teeth Tooth - anatomy & histology Varanus komodoensis Zoology
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Summary:	Komodo dragons ( Varanus komodoensis ) are the largest extant predatory lizards and their ziphodont (serrated, curved and blade-shaped) teeth make them valuable analogues for studying tooth structure, function and comparing with extinct ziphodont taxa, such as theropod dinosaurs. Like other ziphodont reptiles, V. komodoensis teeth possess only a thin coating of enamel that is nevertheless able to cope with the demands of their puncture–pull feeding. Using advanced chemical and structural imaging, we reveal that V. komodoensis teeth possess a unique adaptation for maintaining their cutting edges: orange, iron-enriched coatings on their tooth serrations and tips. Comparisons with other extant varanids and crocodylians revealed that iron sequestration is probably widespread in reptile enamels but it is most striking in V. komodoensis and closely related ziphodont species, suggesting a crucial role in supporting serrated teeth. Unfortunately, fossilization confounds our ability to consistently detect similar iron coatings in fossil teeth, including those of ziphodont dinosaurs. However, unlike V. komodoensis , some theropods possessed specialized enamel along their tooth serrations, resembling the wavy enamel found in herbivorous hadrosaurid dinosaurs. These discoveries illustrate unexpected and disparate specializations for maintaining ziphodont teeth in predatory reptiles. Chemical and structural imaging of Komodo dragon teeth reveals that they maintain their sharp cutting edges through iron-enriched coatings, a unique adaptation compared with theropod dinosaurs (for which they have previously been used as an extant model).
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2397-334X 2397-334X
DOI:	10.1038/s41559-024-02477-7