One of the most dramatic chapters in vertebrate history is the moment some fish dared to venture onto land. Around 375 million years ago, certain lobe-finned fish, like the famous Tiktaalik ...

Teeth first evolved as sensory organs, not for chewing, according to a new analysis of animal fossils.The first tooth-like structures seem to have been sensitive nodules on the skin of early fish ...

CT scan of the tooth-like-odontode structure from Astrapsis, an ancient jawless vertebrate fish. The tubules (shown in green) are filled with dentine, the same material that makes up the sensitive ...

Dentin, the sensory tissue inside teeth, first evolved in the armored exoskeletons of ancient fish, serving as a sensory organ rather than for feeding. Fossil evidence shows these structures ...

However, the sensitive parts inside the hard enamel first evolved for something quite different. New research from the University of Chicago shows that dentine, the inner layer of teeth that transmits ...

At first glance, a fossil of a creature called Anatolepis looked like a vertebrate fish – and indeed, previous research from 1996 had identified it as one. Haridy and her colleagues noticed that ...

Nervy human teeth arose from ancient armored fish scales The sometimes uncomfortable sensations we feel in our teeth may be an evolutionary holdover from the scaly exteriors of ancient armored fish.

At first glance, a fossil of a creature called Anatolepis looked like a vertebrate fish – and indeed, previous research from 1996 had identified it as one. Haridy and her colleagues noticed that ...

New research shows that dentine, the inner layer of teeth that transmits sensory information to nerves inside the pulp, first evolved as sensory tissue in the armored exoskeletons of ancient fish.