Feeding in Mesozoic fishes: a functional perspective

Abstract

The potential feeding abilities of Mesozoic fishes are investigated using analyses of functional morphospace. The closing lever ratio of the lower jaw and the relative jaw length are used to compare potential feeding modes among Mesozoic and Cenozoic fish faunas. Preliminary analyses support earlier suggestions that there was an increase in durophagy in actinopterygian fishes in the Norian. Furthermore, the data highlight the prevalence of low force transmission feeding modes in Jurassic teleosts and the role that this feeding mode may have played in the radiation of this group. Analyses of functional morphospace provide an objective basis for evaluating the potential feeding abilities of both extant and extinct fishes. It provides a novel tool for investigating the abilities of fishes that is largely independent of taxon or age.