Evidence for a Single Loss of Mineralized Teeth in the Common Avian Ancestor

Authors

Robert Meredith, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Guojie Zhang, University of CopenhagenFollow
M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Curtin University of Technology
Erich D. Jarvis, Duke University Medical Center
Mark S. Springer, University of California at Riverside

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-12-2014

Abstract

Edentulism, the absence of teeth, has evolved convergently among vertebrates, including birds, turtles, and several lineages of mammals. Instead of teeth, modern birds (Neornithes) use a horny beak (rhamphotheca) and a muscular gizzard to acquire and process food.We performed comparative genomic analyses representing lineages of nearly all extant bird orders and recovered shared, inactivating mutations within genes expressed in both the enamel and dentin of teeth of other vertebrate species, indicating that the common ancestor of modern birds lacked mineralized teeth.We estimate that tooth loss, or at least the loss of enamel caps that provide the outer layer of mineralized teeth, occurred about 116 million years ago.

DOI

10.1126/science.1254390

Montclair State University Digital Commons Citation

Meredith, Robert; Zhang, Guojie; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Jarvis, Erich D.; and Springer, Mark S., "Evidence for a Single Loss of Mineralized Teeth in the Common Avian Ancestor" (2014). Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 121.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/biology-facpubs/121