Abstract
I REPORT here the discovery of highly distinctive reptilian teeth of early Late Triassic age from the Newark Supergroup of Virginia1, which are distinguished by the development of a deeply infolded median groove on both the labial and lingual surfaces of the blade-like crowns. On the basis of the close structural similarity to comparable features in the two living species of the lizard Heloderma and on the poison-fangs in extant venomous snakes2–5, it is suggested that these grooves functioned in venom conduction. This would represent the earliest instance of the use of oral toxins among reptiles (comprising diapsids and turtles) recorded to date.
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Sues, HD. Venom-conducting teeth in a Triassic reptile. Nature 351, 141–143 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/351141a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/351141a0
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