Velociraptorine teeth were clearly vulnerable to breakage during
feeding, even upon a carcass that lacked particularly robust bones
(Currie and Jacobsen, 1995). Shedding of teeth during feeding was
probably a common event for theropods (Hone and Rauhut, 2010),
which may explain the regular association of velociraptorine teeth
with other dinosaur fossils at Bayan Mandahu. In any event, the
prevalence of theropod tooth loss during feeding lends support to the
idea that the velociraptorine teeth described in this paper (IVPP
V16138) belonged to an individual that actually inflicted the damage
seen on the bone fragments of IVPP V16137, rather than simply being
associated with the bone fragments by a vagary of preservation.