Denticle (tooth feature)

Denticles, also called serrations, are small bumps on a tooth that serve to give the tooth a serrated edge. In paleontology, denticle characteristics such as size and density (denticles per unit distance) are used to describe and classify fossilized teeth, especially those of dinosaurs. Denticles are also present on the teeth of varanoid lizards, sharks, and mammals.^[1]

Dromaeosauridae tooth with small denticles along the cutting edge. Scale bars are 1 mm.
Ankylosaurus tooth with large denticles.
Segnosaurus dentition featuring a triple row of denticles.

References[]

^ Smith, Joshua B.; Vann, David R.; Dodson, Peter (August 2005). "Dental morphology and variation in theropod dinosaurs: Implications for the taxonomic identification of isolated teeth". The Anatomical Record Part A: Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology. 285A (2): 699–736. doi:10.1002/ar.a.20206. PMID 15986487.

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[Smith-1] Smith, Joshua B.; Vann, David R.; Dodson, Peter (August 2005). "Dental morphology and variation in theropod dinosaurs: Implications for the taxonomic identification of isolated teeth". The Anatomical Record Part A: Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology. 285A (2): 699–736. doi:10.1002/ar.a.20206. PMID 15986487.

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