Jawless Vertebrae Had the World's Sharpest Teeth

Photo courtesy of rhyniechert.com

 This article was about a vertebra named a Conodont. It is recorded to have the sharpest teeth of any animal that ever lived. Its teeth are barely thicker than a human hair; however their strength can compete with the strength of our human jaw. This vertebra evolved 500 million years ago and went extinct about 200 million years ago. This vertebra roamed the earth for longer than any other vertebra so far. They do not have a jaw; however they were the first vertebra to evolve teeth. Conodont’s teeth are a little bit different than mammalian teeth. Instead of going up and down, the Conodont’s teeth go left to right to work. There was a problem with having such thin sharp teeth, because they’re so thin and fragile they are more likely to break. To overcome this, the Conodont was able to re-sharpen and repair their teeth throughout their lives. The discovery of these vertebra gave rise to insight of the dental evolution of vertebra. The fossilized teeth are found abundantly in the sedimentary rock in marine environments. By looking at these fossils it can be determined how vertebra evolved and what were the reason for them to evolve, which was most likely food. The finding of Conodonts opened doors for scientific investigation.

Blog Post Author: Meghan Skura, Section 124-21

Article Citation:
Bell, Alexandra. "Jawless Vertebrate had world's sharpest teeth." Nature. N.p., 14 Mar 2012. Web. 14 Apr 2013. <http://www.nature.com/news/jawless-vertebrate-had-world-s-sharpest-teeth-1.10211>.