title: Dental occlusion in a 260-million-year-old therapsid with saber canines from the Permian of Brazil.
abstract: Anomodonts, a group of herbivorous therapsid "mammal-like reptiles," were the most abundant tetrapods of the Permian. We present a basal anomodont from South America, a new taxon that has transversally expanded palatal teeth and long saber canines. The function of the saber teeth is unknown, but probable uses include deterring attack from predators and intraspecific display or combat. The complex palatal teeth were used to process high-fiber food and represent early evidence of dental occlusion in a therapsid. This discovery provides new insight into the evolution of heterogeneous dentition in therapsids and broadens our understanding of ecological interactions at the end of the Paleozoic.
authors: Universidade Federal do Piauí, Centro de Ciências da Natureza, Ininga, Teresina, Piauí, Brazil.
authors: Juan Carlos
authors: JC
authors: Cisneros
authors: Fernando
authors: F
authors: Abdala
authors: Bruce S
authors: BS
authors: Rubidge
authors: Paula Camboim
authors: PC
authors: Dentzien-Dias
authors: Ana de Oliveira
authors: Ade O
authors: Bueno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001938:Brazil; D003481:Cuspid / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003766:Dental Occlusion; D003817:Dentition; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005580:Fossils; D010161:Paleodontology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology