Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor
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 an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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The American Association for the Advancement of Science
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29106 |
| _version_ | 1848752715046322176 |
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| author | Meredith, R. Zhang, G. Gilbert, Thomas Jarvis, E. Springer, M. |
| author_facet | Meredith, R. Zhang, G. Gilbert, Thomas Jarvis, E. Springer, M. |
| author_sort | Meredith, R. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:13:01Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-29106 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:13:01Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | The American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-291062017-09-13T15:23:06Z Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor Meredith, R. Zhang, G. Gilbert, Thomas Jarvis, E. Springer, M. 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. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29106 10.1126/science.1254390 The American Association for the Advancement of Science unknown |
| spellingShingle | Meredith, R. Zhang, G. Gilbert, Thomas Jarvis, E. Springer, M. Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor |
| title | Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor |
| title_full | Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor |
| title_fullStr | Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor |
| title_short | Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor |
| title_sort | evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29106 |