Posted: May 22nd, 2023

Number of teeth per dentition in vertebrates decreased substantially

In the course of evolution, the number of teeth per dentition in vertebrates decreased substantially. This decrease in the number of teeth is called oligodonty. The variations in the number of teeth represent an important factor in the diversity brought by evolution to vertebrates.Evolution also led to increase in the morphological characteristics of vertebrate teeth. This characteristic of variability in morphological characteristics is called heterodonty. Heteredonty was present in some ancient mammal-like reptiles relatives of mammals. In the course of evolution, some vertebrates lost the ability to replace continually teeth in their lifetime (5).