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Enamel Microstructure in Cetacea: a Case Study in Evolutionary Loss of Complexity

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A Correction to this article was published on 14 September 2019

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Abstract

Enamel microstructure of 34 species in eight odontocete families is described and categorized according to structural complexity (from no or prismless enamel to highly arranged enamel in decussating layers), then correlated with parameters of ecology, life history, and occlusal function. Overall, more complex dental structure in extant and extinct cetaceans is associated with smaller, more numerous teeth in taxa that bite or grasp smaller, harder prey with longer, narrower jaws and have more oral processing. Enamel complexity loosely correlates with mechanical properties, but measurement of compressive strength is complicated by the presence of cementum overlying or in place of crown enamel. Given the presence of Hunter-Schreger bands and other indices of high microstructural complexity in archaic cetaceans (with presumed plesiomorphic characters), the absence of complex enamel, as well as more generally of gross dental form, signals a loss of complexity in various cetacean lineages. Nonetheless, it is difficult to draw robust or reliable inferences regarding either cetacean phylogeny or dental function given the pattern of presumed loss of tooth complexity, and the confounding presence of numerous exceptions (taxa with complex teeth despite limited use, or with thin, weakly developed enamel and soft, simple teeth despite high occlusal function). Although retention of a complex feature implies its continued adaptive value, and thus selection for the underlying genetic and developmental bases for that complexity, loss of complexity can simply follow absence of function. Loss of complex traits presumably relates to accumulated mutations and economic efficiency, but unfolds with no distinct pattern of distribution.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed for this study are included in the publication or available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Change history

  • 14 September 2019

    Credit for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Basilosaurus</Emphasis> tooth photograph in Figure 9a: Aaron Miller, Ancient Earth Trading Company LLC. Also, please note that individual teeth shown in both Figure 2 and Figure 9 were not the specific sources of accompanying enamel photomicrographs.

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Acknowledgements

We are especially grateful to the late Doris Stern and Jules A. Kieser for assistance and inspiration. We thank colleagues who helped with SEM or other data collection and interpretation, as well as discussion of dentition in cetaceans and other mammals, including C.B. Wood, A.W. Crompton, Mary Maas, Brian Beatty, Wighart von Koenigswald, Hans Thewissen, Nick Pyenson, Jim Mead, Butch Rommel, John Heyning, Kurt Schwenk, Guillermo Rougier, Sina Shah-Hosseini, Ziedonis Skobe, Robin Pinto, Greg Early, Judy Chupasko, Maria Rutzmoser, Dan Branton, Phil Gingerich, David Kong, and Stanley Yang. We gratefully acknowledge institutions that made this study possible, including Boston’s Forsyth Dental Center and New England Aquarium, Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology, Providence College, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, University of Otago, Massey University, Instituto Estadual de Pesquisas Científicas e Tecnológicas do Estado do Amapá and Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. We also acknowledge scientific/technical assistance from staff at the University of Otago Micro and Nanoscale Imaging (OMNI) facility, in particular Liz Girvan. CL acknowledges the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry for a Sir Thomas Kay Sidey Research Grant. Finally, we thank two anonymous reviewers whose suggestions greatly improved this manuscript’s content and presentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA, 23943, USA

    Alexander J. Werth

  2. Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Carolina Loch

  3. Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    R. Ewan Fordyce

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  1. Alexander J. Werth
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  2. Carolina Loch
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  3. R. Ewan Fordyce
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Correspondence to Alexander J. Werth.

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All specimens were obtained according to relevant regulations.

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Werth, A.J., Loch, C. & Fordyce, R.E. Enamel Microstructure in Cetacea: a Case Study in Evolutionary Loss of Complexity. J Mammal Evol 27, 789–805 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-019-09484-7

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