Oligocene-Period Dolphin Had Unique Feeding Method
Oligocene-Period Dolphin Had Unique Feeding Method
Aureia rerehua had unique teeth which might have formed a cage around small fish, according to a team of paleontologists from the University of Otago.
So I'm no dolphin osteologist so can someone tell me how "cage-teeth" would be distinct from any more snaggle-tooth type of mouth? It seems interesting that they'd have any evidence to push them to that conclusion in the first place.
It had widely splayed teeth which are thought to have clasped around fish, like a wide basket, which is unusual because other ancient dolphins in the area usually used their teeth to strike prey,” said University of Otago paleontologist Shane Meekin.
I’m having difficulty imagining how it would actually function, but i believe it means more like to trap smaller prey species inside the mouth and then consume whole. Almost like a super early evolution that could lead to baleen plates in filter feeding whales, although I don’t know if those are actual modified teeth or not.