Early development of rostrum saw-teeth in a fossil ray tests classical theories of the evolution of vertebrate dentitions

Autor(en)
Moya Meredith Smith, Alex Riley, Gareth J. Fraser, Charlie J. Underwood, Monique Welten, Jürgen Kriwet, Cathrin Pfaff, Zerina Johanson
Abstrakt

In classical theory, teeth of vertebrate dentitions evolved from co-option of external skin denticles into the oral cavity. This hypothesis predicts that ordered tooth arrangement and regulated replacement in the oral dentition were also derived from skin denticles. The fossil batoid ray Schizorhiza stromeri (Chondrichthyes; Cretaceous) provides a test of this theory. Schizorhiza preserves an extended cartilaginous rostrum with closely spaced, alternating saw-teeth, different from sawfish and sawsharks today. Multiple replacement teeth reveal unique newdata frommicro-CT scanning, showing howthe ‘conein-cone’ series of ordered saw-teeth sets arrange themselves developmentally, to become enclosed by the roots of pre-existing saw-teeth. At the rostrum tip, newly developing saw-teeth are present, as mineralized crown tips within a vascular, cartilaginous furrow; these reorient via two 90° rotations then relocate laterally between previously formed roots. Saw-tooth replacement slows mid-rostrum where fewer saw-teeth are regenerated. These exceptional developmental data reveal regulated order for serial self-renewal, maintaining the saw edge with ever-increasing saw-tooth size. This mimics tooth replacement in chondrichthyans, but differs in the crown reorientation and their enclosure directly between roots of predecessor saw-teeth. Schizorhiza saw-tooth development is decoupled fromthe jawteeth and their replacement, dependent on a dental lamina. This highly specialized rostral saw, derived from diversification of skin denticles, is distinct from the dentition and demonstrates the potential developmental plasticity of skin denticles.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Paläontologie
Externe Organisation(en)
University of Sheffield, University of London, Natural History Museum London, King's College London
Journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences
Band
282
ISSN
0962-8452
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1628
Publikationsdatum
09-2015
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
105118 Paläontologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all), Environmental Science(all), Immunology and Microbiology(all), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/early-development-of-rostrum-sawteeth-in-a-fossil-ray-tests-classical-theories-of-the-evolution-of-vertebrate-dentitions(2c839895-104c-4488-9a20-818c85f1ff3a).html