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Sauropod dinosaur teeth from the lower Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, and the global record of early titanosauriforms Project ID: 000433637 Public
12 Media · 12 Specimens · Managed by: Trish Sloan, Stephen Poropat, David Elliott

The Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, has produced several partial sauropod skeletons, but cranial remains — including teeth — remain rare. Herein, we present the first description of sauropod teeth from this formation, based on specimens from three separate sites. An isolated tooth and a dentary fragment from the Diamantinasaurus matildae type locality are considered to be referable to that titanosaurian taxon. A single tooth from the Diamantinasaurus matildae referred specimen site is similarly regarded as being part of that individual. Seventeen teeth from a new site that are morphologically uniform, and similar to the teeth from the two Diamantinasaurus sites, are assigned to Diamantinasauria. All sauropod teeth recovered from the Winton Formation to date are compressed-cone-chisel-shaped, have low slenderness index values (2.00–2.88), are lingually curved at their apices, mesiodistally convex on their lingual surfaces, and lack prominent carinae and denticles. They are markedly different from the chisel-like teeth of derived titanosaurs, more closely resembling the teeth of early-branching members of the titanosauriform radiation. This provides further support for a ‘basal’ titanosaurian position for Diamantinasauria. SEM microwear analysis of the wear facets of several teeth reveals more scratches than pits, implying that diamantinasaurians were mid-height (1–10 m) feeders. With a view to assessing the spatiotemporal distribution of sauropod tooth morphotypes before and after deposition of the Winton Formation, we provide a comprehensive continent–by–continent review of the early titanosauriform global record (Early to early Late Cretaceous). This indicates that throughout the Early–early Late Cretaceous, sauropod faunas transitioned from being quite diverse at higher phylogenetic levels and encompassing a range of tooth morphologies at the start of the Berriasian, to faunas comprising solely titanosaurs with limited dental variability by the end-Turonian. Furthermore, this review highlights the different ways in which this transition unfolded on each continent, including the earliest records of titanosaurs with narrow-crowned teeth on each continent.

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  ID Part Object Taxonomy Type Date Added Publication Status  
000433833 Sauropod tooth aod:f:2298 Diamantinasaurus sp. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433828 Sauropod tooth aod:f:2295 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433824 Sauropod tooth aod:f:2294 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433820 Sauropod tooth aod:f:2293 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433815 Sauropod tooth aod:f:2292 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433811 Sauropod tooth aod:f:2291 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433807 Sauropod tooth aod:f:1531 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433803 Sauropod tooth aod:f:1286 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433799 Sauropod tooth aod:f:1285 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
000433795 Sauropod tooth aod:f:985 Diamantinasauria indet. Mesh 2022-04-04 Restricted Download  
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