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China's Fossil Marvels
AUGUST 2005
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Telltale Teeth
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta; fossil courtesy Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Beijing
Probably the last thing that scientists expected to find on a presumably meat-eating dinosaur was a pair of teeth resembling Bugs Bunny's. The turkey-size creature earned the name Incisivosaurus gauthieri because of the prominent rodent-like front teeth, which exhibit worn areas similar to those found in plant-eaters. The feature was surprising since Incisivosaurus is a theropod, a type of dinosaur that includes the decidedly carnivorous Tyrannosaurus rex. Incisivosaurus joins a group of species that evolved new feeding strategies to fill unoccupied ecological niches. A prominent example is the giant panda, an animal whose ancestors dined on meat but which nowadays prefers bamboo.
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Camera: Nikon F5
Film type: Fujichrome Velvia 50
Lens: AF Nikkor 105mm, f/2.8 macro
Speed and F-stop: 1/60 @ f/11
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Weather Conditions: Indoors
Time of Day: Unrecorded
Lighting Techniques: One Comet 1,200 watt/second power pack, three strobe light heads, soft boxes, and grids
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