A crew of scientists have found that the enamel of Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are coated with iron.
This protecting layer retains the serrated edges of their enamel sharp, which means the 80kg lizards can tear shortly and effectively by way of the flesh of their prey.
The invention, printed in Nature Ecology & Evolution, may additionally present clues to how dinosaurs such because the Tyrannosaurus rex killed and ate its prey.
Komodo dragons are a species of monitor lizard native to Indonesia. Weighing in at round 80kg, they’re the heaviest lizard on this planet. They’re additionally probably the most ferocious, with sharp, curved enamel that they use to hunt and rip aside every kind of prey, from small reptiles and birds to deer, horses and even water buffalo.
How are these lizards in a position to tear by way of meat so simply? With iron-tipped enamel, say researchers from King’s Faculty London.
The researchers discovered that Komodo dragons have concentrated layers of iron at varied areas on their enamel, which helps hold them sharp.
Many reptiles have iron of their enamel, but it surely’s the excessive ranges of iron alongside the reducing edges and ideas of the Komodo’s enamel that makes them totally different. Actually, the iron is so dense that it stains the enamel orange – crocodiles and different monitor lizards, by comparability, have so little that the iron is usually invisible.
The scientists made the invention after a examine on the enamel of Ganas, a 15-year-old Komodo dragon that lived at London Zoo.
By superior imaging and chemical evaluation, they have been in a position to observe that the iron within the Komodo dragon’s enamel is concentrated into a skinny coating on prime of their tooth serrations and ideas.
The findings current new questions on how extinct species reminiscent of dinosaurs lived and ate, says Dr Aaron LeBlanc, lecturer in Dental Biosciences at King’s Faculty London and the examine’s lead writer.
“Komodo dragons have curved, serrated enamel to tear and tear their prey identical to these of meat-eating dinosaurs. We need to use this similarity to be taught extra about how carnivorous dinosaurs might need ate and in the event that they used iron of their enamel the identical method because the Komodo dragon.”
Dr LeBlan says that limitations in expertise make it unattainable to see whether or not fossilised dinosaur enamel have excessive ranges of iron or not. “We predict that the chemical modifications which happen throughout the fossilisation course of obscure how a lot iron was current to begin with,” Dr LeBlan explains.
“What we did discover, although, was that bigger meat-eating dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurs, did change the construction of the enamel itself on the reducing edges of their enamel. So, whereas Komodo dragons have altered the chemistry of their enamel, some dinosaurs altered the construction of their dental enamel to take care of a pointy leading edge.
“With additional evaluation of the Komodo enamel we could possibly discover different markers within the iron coating that aren’t modified throughout fossilisation. With markers like that we might know with certainty whether or not dinosaurs additionally had iron-coated enamel and have a better understanding of those ferocious predators.”
This article by Daniel Graham was first printed by Uncover Wildlife on 1 August 2024. Lead Picture: The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), also referred to as the Komodo monitor, is a species of lizard discovered within the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Padar. Credit score: Getty.
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