A study led by King's College researchers has uncovered new insights into how Komodo dragons maintain their razor-sharp teeth, potentially offering clues about how dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex hunted and consumed their prey.

Komodo dragons, native to Indonesia, are the largest monitor lizards, averaging 80 kg. These lethal predators possess sharp, curved teeth akin to many carnivorous dinosaurs. Their diet includes a wide range of meats, from smaller reptiles and birds to deer, horses, and water buffalo, which they tear apart with their powerful jaws.

Komodo dragon. Credit: Charlotte Ellis, Zoological Society of London

Researchers found that while many reptiles have some iron in their teeth, Komodo dragons uniquely concentrate iron along the cutting edges and tips, giving their teeth an orange hue. In contrast, crocodiles and other monitor lizards have minimal, often invisible, iron in their teeth.

To investigate the Komodo dragon's dental composition, scientists examined museum specimens and studied the teeth of Ganas, a 15-year-old Komodo dragon from the ZSL conservation zoo at London Zoo. Using advanced imaging and chemical analysis at King's London Metallomics Facility and Centre for Ultrastructural Imaging, the team discovered that the iron in the enamel forms a thin coating on the serrations and tips of the teeth, keeping them perpetually sharp.

Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, this research prompts new questions about how extinct species, like dinosaurs, lived and fed. Dr. LeBlanc explained that while current technology cannot determine iron levels in fossilized dinosaur teeth due to chemical changes during fossilization, they did find that large carnivorous dinosaurs altered their enamel structure to maintain sharp teeth. This contrasts with Komodo dragons, which modify their tooth chemistry.

Future analyses of Komodo teeth may reveal markers in the iron coating that remain unchanged during fossilization, potentially confirming if dinosaurs also had iron-coated teeth and enhancing our understanding of these ancient predators.

Dr. Benjamin Tapley, ZSL's Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians and co-author of the study, expressed his continued fascination with Komodo dragons, highlighting that these findings not only enhance our knowledge of how dinosaurs might have lived but also help in the conservation efforts for these endangered lizards.

Read the full article here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/komodo-dragons-have-iron-coated-teeth-to-rip-apart-their-prey. 

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News report courtesy of King's College of London.