Abstract
IN all the speculations on the original type of the mammalian molar, beginning from Rütimeyer (1863), we find that a simple cusp or cone is, with perfectly logical reasoning, considered to be the primitive form from which all others are derived. The error, fatal in its consequences, consisted in the fact that all the teeth possessing such a simple form, whither recent or fossil, high or low in the system, have for a long time likewise been considered to be primitive; so that the only problem remaining to be solved, seemed to be to trace back the intermediate stages between the more or less complicated molars of recent mammalia and the “simple reptilian cone.”
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
P.Z.S. 1893, p. 198–199.
H. F. Osborn, "The Rise of the Mammalia in North America", pp. 30–31. (Boston, 1893.)
H. F. Osborn, "Fossil Mammals of the Upper Cretaceous Beds." (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. v. 1893, pp. 311–330, pl. vii.–viii.)
l.c. p. 320.
Of their homologues, by the way, may be found traces in the molars of many existing mammals; see e.g. H. Winge, Om Pattedyrenes Tandskifte, 1882, Table III.
H. F. Osborn, "Fossil Mammals of the Upper Cretaceous Beds." (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. v. 1893, p. 322.)
NATURE, May 3, 1894, pp. 67.
"On the Fossil Mammalia from the Stonesfield Slate" (Quart. Journ. Micr. Science, vol. xxxv. 1894, pp. 425–23).
P.Z.S., 1893, pp. 196–214.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
MAJOR, C. Trituberculy and Polybuny. Nature 50, 101–102 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/050101c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/050101c0
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.
