ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2021
Mammalian molar complexity follows simple, predictable patterns.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dental complexity and diet in amniotes: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Genetic Correlations Among Dental, Mandibular, and Postcranial Dimensions in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta).American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- Article
- A shark-inspired general model of tooth morphogenesis unveils developmental asymmetries in phenotype transitions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- A Mutation inDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Stripe and spot selection in cusp patterning of mammalian molar formation.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Developmental influence on evolutionary rates and the origin of placental mammal tooth complexity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
Identifying developmental explanations for the evolution of complex structures like mammalian molars is fundamental to studying phenotypic variation. Previous study showed that a "morphogenetic gradient" of molar proportions was explained by a balance between inhibiting/activating activity from earlier developing molars, termed the inhibitory cascade model (ICM). Although this model provides an explanation for variation in molar proportions, what remains poorly understood is if molar shape, or specifically complexity (i.e., the number of cusps, crests), can be explained by the same developmental model. Here, we show that molar complexity conforms to the ICM, following a linear, morphogenetic gradient along the molar row. Moreover, differing levels of inhibiting/activating activity produce contrasting patterns of molar complexity depending on diet. This study corroborates a model for the evolution of molar complexity that is developmentally simple, where only small-scale developmental changes need to occur to produce change across the entire molar row, with this process being mediated by an animal's ecology. The ICM therefore provides a developmental framework for explaining variation in molar complexity and a means for testing developmental hypotheses in the broader context of mammalian evolution.
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