Integration of multi-level dental diversity links macro-evolutionary patterns to ecological strategies across sharks.

ABSTRACT: The exceptional dental diversity in sharks is frequently used as a proxy for ecological function. However, functional inferences from morphology need to consider morphological features across different organizational scales and spatial resolutions. Here, we compare morphological features ranging from sub-dental patterns to whole dentitions within a large ensemble of species encompassing all extant shark orders. Although taxa scoring high for different heterodonty measures are distributed throughout the phylogeny, the two shark superorders show a different degree of modularity between mono- and dignathic heterodonty as well as substantial differences in ecological niches. Intriguingly, we observe two alternative ways of increasing dental complexity: either at the tooth- or dentition-level.

SUBMITTER: Zimm R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12695028 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature