A big catch of fish fossils in southern China includes the oldest teeth ever found—and may help scientists learn how our aquatic ancestors got their bite.
Evolution
Oct 01, 2022
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46
An international team of researchers has discovered 439-million-year-old remains of a toothed fish that suggest the ancestors of modern osteichthyans (ray- and lobe-finned fish) and chondrichthyans (sharks and rays) originated ...
Evolution
Sep 28, 2022
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178
You only get 52 teeth in your lifetime: 20 baby teeth, followed by 32 adult teeth.
Evolution
Sep 22, 2022
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7
Sixty-two million years ago, a mother gave birth to a baby. Overcoming the shock of birth in a matter of minutes, the baby began to explore the world around it. The baby started to suckle from its mother, a natural instinct ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 16, 2022
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81
How frequent was violence in prehistoric human societies? One way to measure this is to look for trauma in prehistoric human remains. For example, a recent review of pre-Columbian remains found evidence of trauma from violence ...
Archaeology
Sep 09, 2022
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125
Scientists have long debated the origins of teeth. Did they evolve from body scales that migrated into the mouths of ancient vertebrates and became adapted for eating—an idea known as the "outside-in" hypothesis? Or did ...
Evolution
Aug 24, 2022
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427
A global team of scientists has shown how microsampling oxygen isotopes in fossilized teeth can offer greater insights into the role seasonal climate and behavior played in human and primate evolution.
Evolution
Aug 23, 2022
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401
The timing and intensity of the seasons shapes life all around us, including tool use by birds, the evolutionary diversification of giraffes, and the behavior of our close primate relatives.
Evolution
Aug 23, 2022
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47
Recent research regarding a dinosaur nicknamed April, previously housed in the UK's Manchester Museum, has revealed rare new findings.
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 18, 2022
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239
Spinosaurid dinosaurs were able to develop up to three generations of teeth at the same time, a high replacement rate that explains why so many teeth of this type have been found in Cretaceous sites. This has been confirmed ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 09, 2022
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109
Teeth (singular tooth) are small whitish structures found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates that are used to tear, scrape, and chew food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or defense. The roots of teeth are covered by gums. Teeth are not made of bone, but rather of tissues of varying density and hardness.
Teeth are among the most distinctive (and long-lasting) features of mammal species. Paleontologists use teeth to identify fossil species and determine their relationships. The shape of the animal's teeth are related to its diet. For example, plant matter is hard to digest, so herbivores have many molars for chewing. Carnivores, on the other hand, need canines to kill prey and to tear meat.
Mammals are diphyodont, meaning that they develop two sets of teeth. In humans, the first set (the "baby," "milk," "primary" or "deciduous" set) normally starts to appear at about six months of age, although some babies are born with one or more visible teeth, known as neonatal teeth. Normal tooth eruption at about six months is known as teething and can be painful.
Some animals develop only one set of teeth (monophyodont) while others develop many sets (polyphyodont). Sharks, for example, grow a new set of teeth every two weeks to replace worn teeth. Rodent incisors grow and wear away continually through gnawing, maintaining relatively constant length. Many rodents such as voles (but not mice) and guinea pigs, as well as rabbits, have continuously growing molars in addition to incisors.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
