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Development of teeth and jaws in the earliest jawed vertebrates

Naturevolume 491, pages748–751 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Teeth and jaws constitute a model of the evolutionary developmental biology concept of modularity1 and they have been considered the key innovations underpinning a classic example of adaptive radiation2. However, their evolutionary origins are much debated. Placoderms comprise an extinct sister clade3 or grade4,5 to the clade containing chondrichthyans and osteichthyans, and although they clearly possess jaws, previous studies have suggested that they lack teeth6,7,8, that they possess convergently evolved tooth-like structures9,10,11 or that they possess true teeth12. Here we use synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM)13 of a developmental series ofCompagopiscis croucheri (Arthrodira) to show that placoderm jaws are composed of distinct cartilages and gnathal ossifications in both jaws, and a dermal element in the lower jaw. The gnathal ossification is a composite of distinct teeth that developed in succession, polarized along three distinct vectors, comparable to tooth families. The teeth are composed of dentine and bone, and show a distinct pulp cavity that is infilled centripetally as development proceeds. This pattern is repeated in other placoderms, but differs from the structure and development of tooth-like structures in the postbranchial lamina and dermal skeleton ofCompagopiscis and other placoderms. We interpret this evidence to indicate thatCompagopiscis and other arthrodires possessed teeth, but that tooth and jaw development was not developmentally or structurally integrated in placoderms. Teeth did not evolve convergently among the extant and extinct classes of early jawed vertebrates but, rather, successional teeth evolved within the gnathostome stem-lineage soon after the origin of jaws. The chimaeric developmental origin of this model of modularity reflects the distinct evolutionary origins of teeth and of component elements of the jaws.

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Figure 1:Evolutionary relationships of principal groups of vertebrates.
Figure 2:Lower-jaw element ofCompagopiscis croucheri, Late Devonian period, Australia.
Figure 3:Virtual development of aCompagopiscis croucheri lower jaw, Late Devonian period, Australia.
Figure 4:Histological comparison of theCompagopiscis croucheri cusps on jaws, dermal bone and postbranchial lamina, with the jaws and pectoral fins of the antiarchBothriolepis species, both Late Devonian, Australia, and the jaw of a buchanosteid arthrodire, Early Devonian, Saudi Arabia.

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Article28 September 2022

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Bengtson, J. Cunningham, D. Murdock, S. Giles and A. Hetherington for help at the TOMCAT beamline; K. Robson-Brown for help at the Micro-CT, and H. Lélièvre and G. Clément for loan of specimens. The study was funded by EU grant FP7 MC-IEF (to M.R. and P.C.J.D.), Australian Research Council Grant DP 110101127 (to Z.J. and K.T.), Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/G016623/1 (to P.C.J.D.) and the Paul Scherrer Institut (P.C.J.D.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen’s Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK,

    Martin Rücklin & Philip C. J. Donoghue

  2. Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, UK,

    Zerina Johanson

  3. Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, Kent St, 6102, Bentley, Australia

    Kate Trinajstic

  4. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, Kew Street, 6106, Welshpool, Australia

    Kate Trinajstic

  5. Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, CH-5232, Switzerland

    Federica Marone & Marco Stampanoni

  6. Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, Zürich, CH-8092, Switzerland

    Marco Stampanoni

Authors
  1. Martin Rücklin

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  2. Philip C. J. Donoghue

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  3. Zerina Johanson

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  4. Kate Trinajstic

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  5. Federica Marone

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  6. Marco Stampanoni

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Contributions

M.R., P.C.J.D. and Z.J. conceived the project. K.T. acid-prepared WAM specimens. M.R., P.C.J.D., F.M. and M.S. collected the data. M.R. analysed the data. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the data and the writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence toMartin Rücklin orPhilip C. J. Donoghue.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Rücklin, M., Donoghue, P., Johanson, Z.et al. Development of teeth and jaws in the earliest jawed vertebrates.Nature491, 748–751 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11555

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Editorial Summary

True teeth in the earliest of jaws

The origin of the gnathostomes —jawed vertebrates — is a hot topic, and central to the discussion is the status of the Placoderms, the earliest known jawed vertebrates. Placoderms constitute a diverse and wholly extinct group of armoured fishes, described variously in the literature as having no teeth whatsoever to having tooth-like structures that may or may not have been true teeth. These authors present a growth series of beautifully preserved placoderms made using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomography, and for the first time get a good look at jaw anatomy in the round. The images reveal that Placoderms did have true teeth, with dentine and pulp cavities, and a distinct mode of tooth replacement. However, the bones on which the teeth sat might not be homologous to teeth-bearing bones in other gnathostomes, reflecting distinct evolutionary origins of teeth and jaw elements.

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