The significance of enamel thickness in the teeth of Alligator mississippiensis and its diversity among crocodyliforms
The significance of enamel thickness in the teeth of Alligator mississippiensis and its diversity among crocodyliforms
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密西西比短吻鳄牙齿牙釉质厚度的意义及其在鳄鱼类动物中的多样性
DOI：
10.1111/jzo.12707
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发表时间：
2019
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Holliday, C. M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Sellers, K. C.;Schmiegelow, A. B.;Holliday, C. M.
牙釉质是脊椎动物体内最坚硬的组织。虽然釉质微结构的变化通常与饮食有关，但构成脊椎动物牙齿的组织的总比例在爬行动物中仍然相对未被探索。为了研究鳄形动物的釉质厚度模式，我们使用微型计算机断层扫描来评估个体发育范围内的动物齿排中喙部、中间和尾部位置的密西西比扬子鳄牙齿的釉质厚度。我们还评估了釉质厚度的衍生牙齿的几个灭绝鳄鱼与不同的颅齿形态。我们的数据表明，釉质厚度尺度与头骨长度等距。我们还表明，釉质是相对较厚的尾牙比牙齿在更吻的位置，一致的较高的咬合力，他们在喂养过程中的经验。我们将我们的数据与现有的恐龙和哺乳动物分类群的釉质厚度数据进行了比较，发现祖龙的釉质明显比大多数哺乳动物薄。这些发现为将来研究牙组织比例的多样性和功能奠定了基础。
Enamel is the hardest tissue in the vertebrate body. Although variation in enamel microstructure is often linked with diet, the gross proportions of the tissues that compose vertebrate teeth remain relatively unexplored in reptiles. To investigate the patterns of enamel thickness in crocodyliforms, we used micro‐computed tomography scanning to evaluate enamel thickness in teeth ofAlligator mississippiensisfrom rostral, intermediate and caudal locations in the tooth row from an ontogenetic range of animals. We also evaluated enamel thickness in the derived teeth of several extinct crocodyliforms with disparate craniodental morphologies. Our data show that enamel thickness scales isometrically with skull length. We also show that enamel is relatively thicker in caudal teeth than teeth in more rostral positions, concordant with the higher bite forces they experience during feeding. We compared our data with existing enamel thickness data reported from dinosaurs and mammalian taxa to find that archosaurs have markedly thinner enamel than most mammals. These findings serve as a basis for future investigations into the diversity and function of the proportions of dental tissues.