Fossils: A Story of the Rocks and Their Record of Prehistoric LifeMarkman, Harvey C.
Science
Fossils: A Story of the Rocks and Their Record of Prehistoric Life
Markman, Harvey C.
Fossils; Paleontology
The more complicated structure was developed from the simpler form by
the easy method of deepening certain depressions located between cusps
at the top of the tooth. As the crown of the tooth increased its length
these depressions remained tucked in, and eventually became deep pits
roughly cylindrical in shape. In addition to the enamel and dentine, a
third tooth substance, known as the cement, made its appearance at about
this time, and we find that quantities of this new material were
deposited outside the crown enamel and also inside the enamel walls of
the pit, in this way producing a firmly consolidated structure otherwise
weakened by deep channels and hollow pockets. The cement differs only
slightly from the dentine but is deposited while the uncut tooth is in
the gum tissues of the mouth, the enamel and dentine elements being
formed earlier in the embryonic tooth before it emerges from the jaw
bone.
A tooth constructed by such a process, if cross-sectioned through the
crown, will be found to consist of successive layers of hard and softer
materials. In living animals the top of the tooth soon wears off and the
enamel layers stand in higher relief because of their greater resistance
to wear. A roughened surface of excellent grinding quality is thus
provided, and as long as the wear continues there remains the same
relative amount of enamel to retain the roughness, and resist abrasion.
Among the various types of grazing animals there is a marked difference
in the arrangement and form of the enamel layers. Within a species of
genus, however, the complicated enamel patterns of the molar teeth are
consistently similar. In the case of horses especially, these patterns
provide a most helpful key to the identification of extinct forms. The
general pattern, in any of the more modern horses, may be understood
more readily if the wavy enamel layers be regarded as forming a set of
cylinders with deeply crinkled walls. Near the outer border of the
tooth, surrounded by a thin layer of cement, is the enclosing cylinder
which represents the enamel cap of the old-fashioned, low-crowned tooth.
Inside of this is the central mass of dentine which has been penetrated
by two of the deep pits previously mentioned. The original enamel cap
has been depressed into these pits, forming two inner cylinders which
are filled with cement. Instead of being circular in outline, when the
cap is worn through at the grinding surface these inner cylinder walls
are seen to be wrinkled and folded so as to produce a most irregular
pattern. However, if several teeth of the same kind of horse are
compared, it will be found that the edges of these cylinders produce
figures which are remarkably uniform and characteristic for that
species.
[Illustration: American Mastodon (_Mastodon americanus_)
A true mastodon of the short-jawed type.]
MASTODONS AND MAMMOTHS
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