Slashdot Mirror
Jawless Creature Had the World's Sharpest Teeth
ananyo writes "An extinct primitive marine vertebrate had the sharpest dental structures ever known — with tips just one-twentieth of the width of a human hair, but able to apply pressures that could compete easily with those from human jaws. The razor-sharp teeth belonged to conodonts, jawless vertebrates that evolved some 500 million years ago in the Precambrian eon and went extinct during the Triassic period, around 200 million years ago. The creatures roamed the planet for longer than any other vertebrate so far–– and despite their lack of jaws, they were the first creatures to evolve teeth (abstract)."
Is there any compensation that has to be applied to fossils which are over 200 million years old? Such as erosion etc?
of this eel-like creature... looks like we don't know much about them aside from their teeth?
Meteorites suck. I mean blow.
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
Here are some speculative drawings of the creatures. Getting caught in a swarm of thrashing sharp dental structures would make a good horror film.
Having evolved to chew through solid rock... They bored into the earth, and have evolved to make sustainable life energy in the heat below the earth's mantle... What's that noise?... Come closer to the campfire.
Gently reply
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water ... JAWLESS!
Breakfast served all day!
Well there is a reason they were extinct. Teeth that sharp would 1. Either dull down quickly (depends on how long it lived) 2. Be fragile enough to break after catching prey.
Perhaps they were like rodent's teeth, constantly growing and softer on one side than the other, so that as it ate the tooth would sharpen itself and any breakages would be replaced.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Aren't these living creatures related?
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
Another dentist insight: dentists don't like to RTFA...
But super-sharp teeth can cause problems. “If you have sharp teeth they are more likely to break,” says Donoghue. To overcome this, the animals seem to have been able to re-sharpen and repair worn teeth throughout their lives — a quality that other vertebrates have failed to evolve.
if pressure is force per unit area then it sounds like area and pressure are related - the smaller area for the same force will have higher pressure because force divided by a smaller value will continue to increase, right?
Because you don't even understand life itself! Life itself is completely unknown to one such as you.
Wow! There are dark rumors about you circulating all over the grapevine. They were started by... Komen Bryce himself!
The rumor's text? "Anonymous Coward is misign a few gigabit on his puter... bai2u... >_>"
I know, I know. Your very soul has been shattered. You are a mere shell of what you once were. You're nothing. You can just turn to dust and die now!
The size of the surface area has no bearing on the amount of pressure that can be applied because pressure is force per unit area.
Try again. Try harder.
Excuse me, wtf r u doin?
I don't think you could call their design flawed: they roamed this planet for about 1/3 billion years.
From the summary:
Because you can tell from a fossil how long they were around. And you can tell that an animal looks like an eel by a set of fossilized teeth.
I don't care how great of a scientist you are, you can't predict what an animal looked like from a set of teeth. Imagine the wild designs they would come up with for humans if all they had to go on was a tooth.
Just a blast of Nitrous in the morning with your coffee...
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
No prediction here.
What are believed to be conodonts have been found in legerstatte deposit which can preserve impressions of softer tissues.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagerst%C3%A4tte
Yep. The oil industry use them all the time.
Is jawless and has pretty sharp (figurative) teeth.
Given that it had no jawbone, it only makes sense that the teeth be sharp to still "get thru the point".
Well there is a reason they were extinct. Teeth that sharp would 1. Either dull down quickly (depends on how long it lived) 2. Be fragile enough to break after catching prey.
Some species developed an ability to re-grow tooth material. Quoth TFA:
To overcome this, the animals seem to have been able to re-sharpen and repair worn teeth throughout their lives — a quality that other vertebrates have failed to evolve.
Drill baby drill - on Mars