Evolution and Classification of the Pocket Gophers of the Subfamily GeomyinaeRussell, Robert J.
Science
Evolution and Classification of the Pocket Gophers of the Subfamily Geomyinae
Russell, Robert J.
Pocket gophers
Hence, the first upper molar
becomes a mirror image of the first lower molar, and the second upper
molar probably had the same pattern as the first (at least it does so
in _Pliosaccomys_). Both of the lateral re-entrant folds of the
premolar are deep vertically, and consequently would not disappear
with occlusal wear. Therefore, the H-pattern of the premolars is
retained throughout life.
The m3 (M3 unknown for _Dikkomys_ or _Pliosaccomys_) also has deep
lateral folds; hence, it too retains the H-pattern in all stages of
attrition, although the isthmus between the two prisms may become
wider in the final phases of wear (as it does in _Pliosaccomys_).
In _Pliosaccomys_, the stages of wear are essentially the same as
those described for _Dikkomys_, except that the anterior and posterior
loph of the first and second molars tend to unite closer to one side
of the tooth, lingual side in upper molars and labial in lower. Only a
slight inflection of the re-entrant fold is evident on the side of
union, and the inflection disappears in the first phases of wear as
the columns unite. Concomitant with the lateral shift in the initial
point of coalescence of the transverse lophs, the occlusal penetration
of the re-entrant fold from the opposite side increases in horizontal
depth, and the fold extends medially more than half way across the
occlusal surface, thus forming a pattern essentially like that of the
entoptychids. The U-pattern in _Pliosaccomys_ appears in the initial
stages of wear without going through an earlier H-pattern as is the
case in its Miocene ancestors of the genus _Dikkomys_, unless the
minute inflection is considered as indicative of that stage. The two
columns of the premolar and m3 are joined near their mid-points as in
_Dikkomys_; therefore, they retain their primitive H-pattern, a
feature unique to the Geomyinae.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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