Titel
Tooth mineralization and histology patterns in extinct and extant snaggletooth sharks, Hemipristis (Carcharhiniformes, Hemigaleidae)—Evolutionary significance or ecological adaptation?
Autor*in
Charlie J. Underwood
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London
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Abstract
Shark jaws exhibit teeth that are arranged into distinct series and files and display great diversities in shapes and structures, which not only is related to their function (grasping, cutting, crushing) during feeding, but also bear a strong phylogenetic signal. So far, most research on the relationship between shark teeth and feeding ecology and systematics focused on the external tooth morphology only. Although the tooth histology of sharks has been examined since the early 19th century, its functional and systematic implications are still ambiguous. Shark teeth normally consist of either a porous, cellular dentine, osteodentine (in lamniform sharks and some batoids) or a dense layer of orthodentine (known from different sharks). Sharks of the order Carcharhiniformes, comprising ca. 60% of all extant shark species, are known to have orthodont teeth, with a single exception—the snaggletooth shark, Hemipristis elongata. High resolution micro-CT images of jaws and teeth from selected carcharhiniform sharks (including extant and fossil snaggletooth sharks) and tooth sections of teeth of Hemipristis, other carcharhiniform and lamniform sharks, have revealed that (1) Hemipristis is indeed the only carcharhiniform shark filling its pulp cavity with osteodentine in addition to orthodentine, (2) the tooth histology of Hemipristis elongata differs from the osteodont histotype, which evolved in lamniform sharks and conversely represents a modified orthodonty, and (3) this modified orthodonty was already present in extinct Hemipristis species but the mineralization sequence has changed over time. Our results clearly show the presence of a third tooth histotype—the pseudoosteodont histotype, which is present in Hemipristis. The unique tooth histology of lamniform sharks might provide a phylogenetic signal for this group, but more research is necessary to understand the phylogenetic importance of tooth histology in sharks in general.
Stichwort
TeethDentitionSharksJawHistologyCartilageDentinPhylogenetics
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:931083
Erschienen in
Titel
PLOS ONE
Band
13
Ausgabe
8
Verlag
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Erscheinungsdatum
2018
Zugänglichkeit
Rechteangabe
© 2018 Jambura et al

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