The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications (IMAGE)

University of Toronto

The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications

Caption

Micro-CT reconstruction of (A) the cranium of the extant treeshrew Tupaia gracilis (AMNH 103620) and (B) the right upper jaw fragment (P3–M3) of M. latidens (USGS 17748) with carious lesions. Enlarged second molars, with black arrows demarcating the carious lesions, demonstrate that the lesions are positioned in the same location in both the extant and extinct taxa. This is likely due to the fact that the tongue has a difficult time reaching the occlusal basin to clean the tooth, leading to accelerated carious activity and decay in this location. Grey scale bars = 1 cm, black scale bars = 1 mm.

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Keegan Selig

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