Proposed terminology of theropod teeth

[Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com>]

Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com

A new online paper:

Christophe Hendrickx, Octávio Mateus & Ricardo Araújo (2015)
A proposed terminology of theropod teeth (Dinosauria, Saurischia).
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (advance online publication)
DOI:10.1080/02724634.2015.982797
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2015.982797#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.

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this
article for free at www.tandfonline.com/ujvp