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All, I'm currently working with pycnodont fish specimens from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Late Cretaceous) ... and am somewhat confused regarding the terminology used to describe the teeth. *Most fish teeth are acrodont (attached directly to the bony surface of the jaws and other tooth bearing cranial elements): * *http://www.oceansofkansas.com/FossilFish/Enchodus/e-petro7.jpg* * Pycnodonts were small to medium-sized, deep-bodied bony fish with rounded and flattened teeth that are well adapted for crushing food items (similar to modern parrot fish). In the case of pycnodonts, however, I note that the enameloid crowns appear to be sitting on distinct, column-like structures that penetrate deep into the bone ... This may just be a specialized area of bone under the crown, but it certainly looks like and appears to function like a root... http://www.oceansofkansas.com/FossilFish/Pycnodont/CHALKPYC.jpg http://www.oceansofkansas.com/FossilFish/Pycnodont/1991-84.jpg Typically, the tooth crowns are collected without the "roots" being attached: http://www.oceansofkansas.com/FossilFish/Pycnodont/03BLUE28.jpg ...but I have recovered others with a portion of the structure still in place. Can anyone clarify this issue for me? ... please reply off list. Regards, * Mike Everhart Adjunct Curator of Paleontology Sternberg Museum of Natural History Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS www.oceansofkansas.com http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Pycnodont.html
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