Investigating the Morphogenesis and Replacement of Lamprey Toothlets Using Synchrotron Imaging.

ABSTRACT: Teeth are a key innovation that underpinned the adaptive radiation of jawed vertebrates; however, their evolutionary origin must lie with the diverse tooth-like structures of living and fossil jawless vertebrates. Most previous studies have focussed on the extinct stem-gnathostomes that phylogenetically intercalate the living jawed and jawless vertebrates. The only two extant jawless cyclostome lineages, the lampreys and hagfish bearing keratinous toothlets, have long been overlooked, though they possess complex (but unmineralised) toothlets that some have interpreted as precursors to the teeth of jawed vertebrates. Regardless of whether the toothlets of cyclostomes are homologous or convergent on the teeth of jawed vertebrates, they have the potential to offer unparalleled molecular devel

SUBMITTER: Grohganz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12541293 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature