How old are teeth?

[Ludwigia]

I posed this question to google in a good number of forms and formulations, but ended up mostly with technical answers on dentistry. Every time I see a photo of Dunkleosteus, as I just did in Ziggy's report on the Cleveland Museum, this question pops up in my head. What is meant here more precisely is "How long have teeth been in existence in the geological record? How old is the oldest discovered tooth altogether and which creature had the honor of inventing it?" I seem to remember reading something about this a long time ago, but it sure would be nice if someone here was in the position to refresh my memory for me.

[LordTrilobite]

Well, teeth have their origin in scales. They are basically hyper specialised scales in the mouth. Teeth have their origin in fish. Though the "teeth" in Dunkleosteus aren't real "teeth" as they are a set of bony plates that function as a pair of scissors.

I think the first fish to have what we would call teeth were the jawless fish. With the jaw hinges coming afterwards. Also interesting to note is that jaws are modified gill supports.

[Al Dente]

I think the earliest conodonts are Middle Cambrian, some references say Late Cambrian.

[Ludwigia]

Well, teeth have their origin in scales. They are basically hyper specialised scales in the mouth. Teeth have their origin in fish. Though the "teeth" in Dunkleosteus aren't real "teeth" as they are a set of bony plates that function as a pair of scissors.

I think the first fish to have what we would call teeth were the jawless fish. With the jaw hinges coming afterwards. Also interesting to note is that jaws are modified gill supports.

Very interesting. Thanks. And I had imagined that they had their origins in claws. I know that about Dunkelosteus. That's what gets this going in my head every time I see it.

I think the earliest conodonts are Middle Cambrian, some references say Late Cambrian.

Thanks. Now why didn't I think of those creatures. That goes back quite a way...

[ZiggieCie]

Primitive teeth go back a long time. Here is a link to Hallucigenia, 500million years old, http://www.livescience.com/51331-bizarre-ancient-worm-face-revealed.html

The Annelid's and their teeth,Scolecodonts, have been around a long time, since the early Cambrian, and have had very descriptive teeth used for ID'ing Strata layers.

Link to example of their teeth, https://www.google.com/search?q=small+worm+teeth+fossils&rlz=1C1SFXN_enUS498US498&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG_aKj5rXJAhVHQCYKHTYcDsEQsAQIHA&dpr=1

Even as old as some of their teeth are they have already evolved to quite specialized forms, so had been around a long time before the examples we have found. The earlier teeth may of not evolved to a form that would become fossilized, but they had to be used for a long time to of evolved to the preservable formes we have records of.

The earliest fish were also showing teeth long before they evolved Jaws that we could recognize. The early Fish had round rasping mouths, but they had teeth for breaking food down to edible size.

Teeth, Eyes, Blood, Skin, sensory organs, (hearing, feeling, sensing, etc) have been around since very early in the evolution process. All of these very early wonders link all life together from the very beginning.

It all is very amazing

Ziggie

[ZiggieCie]

The Placoderms were their own specialized life forms. In the layers that they were found in the Cleveland, Ohio area also had many Shark species that had more normal teeth. The dental work on the Plac's we're their own evolutionary thing. They were very successful but still went extinct. How sad.

[Ludwigia]

Thanks very much for this information, Ziggy. This is very helpful. I'm actually aware of the Scolecodonts, but they had also slipped my mind in this respect. So from what you're saying, teeth in one form or another have been around for a very long time.

[Velociraptor99]

Gotta love learning about this stuff. When I a shadowed a paleontologist at the Cleveland Natural History Museum, I had the pleasure of seeing several complete Dunkelosteus skull specimens in the museum's collection unit, that weren't casts. It's just amazing how these things evolved. I'm in agreement about jawless fish being the first with teeth.

[ZiggieCie]

It's like when non-plant forms evolved, special features became core parts of many of them. The Teeth, Eyes, Blood , Skin, Sensory organs and all of the other commonalities of life, have all evolved up from the very primitive beginnings. Just think about everything that goes on in your body that goes on that you have no control of, other than putting a food source inside. The digestive tract, the organs that PRODUCE the very complicated enzymes and everything involved with converting food to the source of life that everything from the Ameba to us need, to keep the immortal part of our life to continue on.

Yes your DNA is immortal! Just think, that from the very beginning of life, a strand of DNA has divided, mixed with a mates DNA, combined and kept life going on and on as long as the life form had a "child" offspring. You are immortal, in the sense that you pass on your living life form, (DNA,) before you die. You, your core life form goes on without end as long as the string is unbroken. We tend to think that our consciousness in our brain is the most important thing about us, it is not. It is only a very small part of the marvels that go on inside of our bodies. Our consciousness tells us to eat, after that, our self regulated bodies do the rest. You cut yourself, your body heals the wound, and everything all the way down to cell division goes on without you thinking about it. This has evolved in almost all life forms. We are all a lot closer than most people think.

Sorry for carrying on.

Ziggie

[ZiggieCie]

Hi V99, hope school's going great.

[ynot]

Armored worms may have beat the fish...

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/59476-spiky-armored-worm-lived-half-a-billion-years-ago/

Tony

[Auspex]

Armored worms may have beat the fish...

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/59476-spiky-armored-worm-lived-half-a-billion-years-ago/

Tony

Yes, quite, especially if we think of 'teeth' as tools that evolved to efficiently process food. The rooted dentin & enamel design had to wait for vertebrates to come along.

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for the link, Tony. Missed out on that one, although it's only a couple of days old.

[LordTrilobite]

Just like eyes, teeth have evolved many times separately on their own. So some creatures may have had a form of teeth earlier. But the teeth of our own ancestors have their origin in jawless fish so far as I know.