An oviraptor with lots of teeth?

["Nick Gardner" <n_gardner637@hotmail.com>]

"Rabbit-like dinosaurs once roamed China"
September 18, 2002 Posted: 1456 GMT

In March 2001, over 100 dinosaur footprints were found in China's Gansu 
province

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- A bucktoothed, rabbit-like dinosaur related to 
Tyrannosaurus Rex [sic] and other predators lived in China 128 million years 
ago, researchers report.

The fossil of the unusual Incisivosaurus was found in the Yixian formation 
near Beipiao City in northeast China, an area that has already produced many 
unusual fossils, including dinosaurs with feathers.

Incisivosaurus is part of a group of dinosaurs known as oviraptors, small 
two-legged dinosaurs that had parrot-like beaks.  Incisivosaurus, however, 
is the oldest oviraptor found to date and lacks [!] the bird-like features 
found in others of its group, the researchers report in Thursday's issue of 
the journal Nature.

Instead of having a beak, Incisivosaurus has a long skull and jaws filled 
with teeth for grinding. However, in its most unusual characteristic, it 
sports two large buck teeth at the front of its jaw similar to those used by 
rodents for gnawing.

The bucked teeth suggest the dinosaur was an herbivore rather than a 
meat-eater like its relatives, reported Xing Xu and colleagues at the 
Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Other paleontologists said bucked teeth alone do not mean Incisivosaurus was 
a plant-eater. But they said the discovery shakes up the traditional view of 
theropod dinosaurs, which are widely assumed to have long, sharp teeth.

"The classic view of predatory dinosaur (theropod) teeth is that they are 
all basically the same and are shaped more or less like serrated steak 
knives,"said geologist Joshua Smith of Washington University in St. Louis.

"However, it is becoming more and more obvious as we begin to look closely 
at theropod teeth that they are far more complex than we have been led to 
believe and that the steak-knife view isn't accurate. This is true of 
Tyrannosaurus, and with new discoveries like Masiakasaurus last year in 
Madagascar and now Incisivosaurus in China, it is becoming apparent that it 
is true of other theropods as well."

The size of the teeth in the fossil vary widely. The front teeth appear two 
to three times longer than teeth further back, which is almost unheard of, 
Smith said.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may 
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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