London, Oct 30 (PTI) Scientists have discovered a 72-million-year old plant eating dinosaur with massive, scissor-like teeth that it used to tear through tough, fibrous leavesof ancient palm trees.
The fossil remains of the dinosaur - Matheronodonprovincialis - which was about 16 feet long and had a shortface, were excavated at a site in southern France.
The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports,found that the most notable thing about the dinosaur was itsteeth. Not only were they quite large for a dinosaur of itssize, but they were fewer in number.
Researchers, including those from the University ofPoitiers in France, noted that some of the teeth were sixcentimetres long and others up to five centimetres wide.
As a member of the rhabdodontids, they had teeth withridges covered by enamel on just one side - the other side hadvery little enamel and no ridges, researchers said.
Teeth that were located on the upper jaw were situatedsuch that the enamel and ridges were on the outer side, whilethe teeth on the bottom jaw were the opposite, they said.
The net effect was a mouthful of teeth that resembledpinking shears - serrated scissors commonly used for sewing,researchers added.
The team looked at the teeth under a microscope and founda similar pattern of enamel and ridging, which researchersnoted protected the teeth from wearing away. Instead, chewingserved not only to crush food for consumption, but alsosharpened teeth.
Researchers suggest M provincialis was a bipedalvegetarian — its big teeth would have allowed it to cruncheven the toughest vegetation, including palm tree parts, whichthe team believes were abundant during the time thesedinosaurs were active.
Previous research has suggested the area where it wasuncovered was once a tropical river system that was part of aflood plain which explained the presence of palm trees, flyingreptiles, turtles and crocodiles all living during the sametime period. PTI APAAPA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.