Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Function of the mandibular tooth comb in living and extinct mammals

Abstract

Among the most interesting mammalian dental specializations is the mandibular ‘tooth comb’ or ‘tooth scraper’ that evolved independently in certain primates and other mammals. Its occurrence is most widely known in lemurs and lorises, where it is comprised of the long, slender, procumbent incisors (one or two pairs) and incisiform canines (Fig. 1). Innon-primates the canines are not incorporated into the comb. Some tree shrews(Tupaiidae) possess a tooth comb consisting of the four central incisors, andsome early Tertiary arctocyonid condylarths had a similar structure composed of all six lower incisors1. The extant flying lemurs (Dermoptera: Cynocephalus) also have a dental ‘comb’ but it is very different from the ones already mentioned, consisting of two pairs of pectinate incisors, each tooth modified into a comb with as many as 15 tines. This condition, although sometimes said to be similar to that in lemurs, is unique to Cynocephalus. One of the principal functions of the tooth comb in primates is to comb the fur, and we present here indirect evidence that condylarths used this structure in the same way, millions of years before tooth combs evolved in prosimians. We also show that the comb-like incisors of Cynocephalus, contrary to popular belief, probably do not function to comb the fur.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gingerich, P. D. & Rose, K. D. J. Mammal. 60, 16–22 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Cuvier, F. & St Hilaire, G. Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes (Bull. Mus. nat. Hist., Paris, 1825).

  3. Jones, F. Wood, J. Anat. 52, 345–353 (1918).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Jones, F. Wood, Proc. R. Soc. Tasmania 1925, 29–30 (1925); Man's Place Among the Mammals (Longmans, London, 1929).

  5. Clark, W. E., Le Gros Early Forerunners of Man (William Wood, Baltimore, 1934).

  6. Clark, W. E., Le Gros The Antecedents of Man (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1959).

  7. Avis, V. Am.J. phys. Anthrop. 19, 55–61 (1961).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Stein, R. M. Am. Nat. 70, 19–28 (1936).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lowther, F. de L. Zoologica 24, 477–480 (1939).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Roberts, D. J. Anat. 75, 236–238 (1941).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Doyle, G. A. in Prosimian Biology (eds Martin, R. D., Doyle, G. A. & Walker, A. C.) 213–231 (Duckworth, London, 1974).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Buettner-Janusch, J. & Andrew, R. J. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 20, 127–129 (1962).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Petter, J.-J., Schilling, A. & Pariente, G. Terre Vie 25, 287–327 (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Charles-Dominique, P. Biol. Gabonica 7, 121–228 (1971); in Prosimian Biology (eds Martin, R. D., Doyle, G. A. & Walker, A. C.) 131–150 (Duckworth, London, 1974); Ecology and Behavior of Nocturnal Prosimians (Duckworth, London, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hladik, C. M. in The Study of Prosimian Behavior (eds Doyle, G. A. & Martin, R. D.) 307–357 (Academic, New York, 1979).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Petter, J.-J. Mem. Mus. nat. Hist. Nat. Ser. A27, 1–146 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Richard, A. Folia primatol. 22, 178–207 (1974); in The Ecology of Arboreal Folivores (ed. Montgomery, G.) 519–533 (Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Martin, R. D. in The Study of Prosimian Behavior (eds Doyle, G. A. & Martin, R. D.) 45–77 (Academic, New York, 1979).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Gingerich, P. D. in Lemur Biology (eds Tattersall, I. & Sussman, R.) 65–80 (Plenum, New York, 1975).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  20. Simpson, G. G. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. 136, 39–62 (1967).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Walker, A. in Evolution of African Mammals (eds Maglio, V. J. & Cooke, H. B. S.) 90–99 (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Jacobs, L. L. Nature 289, 585–587 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Walker, A. Uganda J. 33, 90–91 (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Tauxe, L. Nature 282, 399–401 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Rose, K. D. & Bown, T. M. (in preparation).

  26. Martin, R. D. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B264, 295–352 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Szalay, F. S. & Seligsohn, D. Folia primatol. 27, 75–82 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Peyer, B. Comparative Odontology (University Chicago Press, Chicago, 1968).

  29. Vaughan, T. Mammalogy (Saunders, Philadelphia, 1978).

  30. Walker, E. P. et al. Mammals of the World (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1975).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Jepsen, G. L. Peabody Mus. nat. Hist. A. Rep. 3, 1–14 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Chapman, H. C. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. 54, 241–254 (1902).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Wharton, C. H. J. Mammal. 31, 269–273 (1950).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. LIm Boo Liat Int. Zoo Yb. 7, 196–197 (1967).

  35. Raven, H. C., cited in Gregory, W. K. Evolution Emerging 387 (Macmillan, New York, 1951).

  36. Winge, H. The Interrelationships of the Mammalian Genera Vol. 1 (Reitzels, Copenhagen, 1941).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rose, K., Walker, A. & Jacobs, L. Function of the mandibular tooth comb in living and extinct mammals. Nature 289, 583–585 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/289583a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/289583a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing