Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are large predatory lizards with distinctive curved, serrated, blade-shaped teeth, which are very sharp. Scientists studying the teeth of Komodo dragons have discovered they have iron in the serrated edges of their teeth.
Aaron LeBlanc, a palaeontologist at King’s College London, and colleagues were studying teeth of Komodo dragon skulls held in museums and noticed that the serrated edges and tips of the Komodo dragon teeth had a distinct orange stain. Chemical tests showed the stain was due to iron compounds in the teeth.
To confirm the iron was an integral part of the teeth and not just staining from the environment the scientists studied developing teeth that would have still been in the reptile’s gums. (Like many reptiles Komodo dragons replace their teeth throughout life.) The developing teeth had iron in their edges as well. According to LeBlanc “They’re actually putting iron specifically on the cutting edges of their teeth as some sort of protective coating.”
The researchers suggest the iron coating maintains the sharp cutting edge and enables the dragons to slice through their prey as they eat.
Some dinosaurs, such as tyrannosaurs have curved serrated teeth and the Kings College team suggest their study of Komodo dragon teeth will help researchers understand how dinosaurs captured and ate their prey.
Aaron LeBlanc explained: “Komodo dragons have curved, serrated teeth to rip and tear their prey just like those of meat-eating dinosaurs. We want to use this similarity to learn more about how carnivorous dinosaurs might have eaten and if they used iron in their teeth the same way as the Komodo dragon. Unfortunately, using the technology we have at the moment, we can’t see whether fossilised dinosaur teeth had high levels of iron or not. We think that the chemical changes which take place during the fossilisation process obscure how much iron was present to start with.”
He went on to say: “With further analysis of the Komodo teeth we may be able to find other markers in the iron coating that aren’t changed during fossilisation. With markers like that we would know with certainty whether dinosaurs also had iron-coated teeth and have a greater understanding of these ferocious predators.”
References: King’s College London 24 July 2024; Science (AAAS) News 24 July 2024, ScienceDaily 24 July 2024; Nature Ecology & Evolution, 24 July 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02477-7
Editorial Comment: Having iron coated sharp teeth may be useful for a predator, but an important reminder – sharp teeth do not make a creature a predator! We know that Komodo dragons are predators because we have observed their behaviour. However, we cannot know whether dinosaurs were ferocious predators because we cannot observe their behaviour. Sharp teeth are just as useful for cutting tough vegetation as they are for killing and eating animals.
It takes more that sharp teeth to make a creature a ferocious predator. The teeth need to be well rooted in the jaw. The animal also needs to have speed and agility to catch other animals, along with a good eyesight and other senses. Tyrannosaurs had shallow rooted teeth, rounded eye sockets, which are usually associated with short sight, massive legs not suited for fast agile running, and small arms not suited to grasping struggling prey.
Genesis states all animals were created to eat plants. Sharp iron reinforced teeth would have been useful for piercing and eating tough fruit and other vegetation. After Noah’s flood the environment degenerated and some animals that already had sharp teeth such as Komodo dragons were able to use these on other animals in order to survive in the new harsher conditions.
Those animals not well equipped to eat kill then eat meat would have stayed vegetarian or died out depending on what food was available. Survival of the fittest is a real process, but it will not make anything evolve new feature. It is a reminder that the world is going downhill, not evolving upwards.
Creation Research News 7 August 2024
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