The stem osteichthyan Andreolepis and the origin of tooth replacement

Donglei Chen (), Henning Blom, Sophie Sanchez, Paul Tafforeau and Per E. Ahlberg ()
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Donglei Chen: Uppsala University
Henning Blom: Uppsala University
Sophie Sanchez: Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University
Paul Tafforeau: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 rue Jules Horowitz
Per E. Ahlberg: Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University

Nature, 2016, vol. 539, issue 7628, 237-241

Abstract: Abstract The teeth of gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) show rigidly patterned, unidirectional replacement that may or may not be associated with a shedding mechanism. These mechanisms, which are critical for the maintenance of the dentition, are incongruently distributed among extant gnathostomes. Although a permanent tooth-generating dental lamina is present in all chondrichthyans, many tetrapods and some teleosts, it is absent in the non-teleost actinopterygians. Tooth-shedding by basal hard tissue resorption occurs in most osteichthyans (including tetrapods) but not in chondrichthyans. Here we report a three-dimensional virtual dissection of the dentition of a 424-million-year-old stem osteichthyan, Andreolepis hedei, using propagation phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography, with a reconstruction of its growth history. Andreolepis, close to the common ancestor of all extant osteichthyans, shed its teeth by basal resorption but probably lacked a permanent dental lamina. This is the earliest documented instance of resorptive tooth shedding and may represent the primitive osteichthyan mode of tooth replacement.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/nature19812

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