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Teeth: A Very Short Introduction

Peter S. Ungar

27 March 2014

ISBN: 9780199670598

160 pages
Paperback
174x111mm

In Stock

Very Short Introductions

Price: £8.99

Teeth are a vital component of vertebrate anatomy and a fundamental part of the fossil record. It was the evolution of teeth, associated with predation, that drove the evolution of the wide array of fish, amphibians, reptiles, and then mammals. Peter S. Ungar looks at how, without teeth, none of these developments could have occurred.

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Description

Teeth are a vital component of vertebrate anatomy and a fundamental part of the fossil record. It was the evolution of teeth, associated with predation, that drove the evolution of the wide array of fish, amphibians, reptiles, and then mammals. Peter S. Ungar looks at how, without teeth, none of these developments could have occurred.

  • Presents the story of teeth - from the earliest tooth-bearing fishes hundreds of millions of years ago through amphibians, reptiles and, ultimately, mammals
  • Considers the anatomy and variety of teeth and the important role they play
  • Explores the variety of tooth forms in living animals
  • An ideal introduction to students of zoology, anthropology, and dentistry courses
  • Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over six million copies sold worldwide

About the Author(s)

Peter S. Ungar, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas

Peter S. Ungar received his PhD in Anthropological Sciences from Stony Brook University and taught Gross Anatomy in the medical schools at Johns Hopkins and Duke before moving to the University of Arkansas, where he now serves as Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology. He has written or co-authored more than 125 scientific papers on ecology and evolution for books and journals including Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, and authored the book Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity (John Hopkins University Press), which won the 2010 PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers for the best book in the biological sciences.

Table of Contents

    1:Teeth matter
    2:Types and parts of teeth
    3:What teeth do: food and feeding
    4:The origin of teeth and teeth in non-mammals
    5:The evolution of teeth in mammals
    6:Mammal teeth today
    7:Human teeth and their history
    8:Endless forms
    Further reading

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