Increasing control over biomineralization in conodont evolution
- Author(s)
- Bryan Shirley, Isabella Leonhard, Duncan J.E. Murdock, John Repetski, Przemysław Świś, Michel Bestmann, Pat Trimby, Markus Ohl, Oliver Plümper, Helen E. King, Emilia Jarochowska
- Abstract
Vertebrates use the phosphate mineral apatite in their skeletons, which allowed them to develop tissues such as enamel, characterized by an outstanding combination of hardness and elasticity. It has been hypothesized that the evolution of the earliest vertebrate skeletal tissues, found in the teeth of the extinct group of conodonts, was driven by adaptation to dental function. We test this hypothesis quantitatively and demonstrate that the crystallographic order increased throughout the early evolution of conodont teeth in parallel with morphological adaptation to food processing. With the c-axes of apatite crystals oriented perpendicular to the functional feeding surfaces, the strongest resistance to uniaxial compressional stress is conferred along the long axes of denticles. Our results support increasing control over biomineralization in the first skeletonized vertebrates and allow us to test models of functional morphology and material properties across conodont dental diversity.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology, Department of Geology, Department of Classical Philology, Medieval and Neolatin Studies
- External organisation(s)
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Utrecht University, University of Warsaw, University of Oxford, United States Geological Survey, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Oxford Instruments plc., Carl Zeiss
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Volume
- 15
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49526-0
- Publication date
- 12-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105118 Palaeontology
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/increasing-control-over-biomineralization-in-conodont-evolution(f3346e9c-9305-4935-a71f-25b1802c3658).html