Ch. 4 - Teeth Everywhere

I thought that Chapter 4 was very interesting and easier to understand because it talked about a familiar topic that I knew a lot about. Teeth. However, I never knew that fossil teeth would provide so much information of the fossil as well as its history. Paleontologists can tell the difference of what animal and what kind of diet it has just by observing its teeth. I found this fascinating.

When Shubin tells of his early years in paleontology, it shows how you can learn and hone your skill in finding fossils by a lot of practice and experience. Also you have to know what you are looking for. He wasn't much help in his excavations with the experienced Chuck and Bill. This shows that even an expert like Shubin had to learn the basics of everything before he began to become more knowledgeable and start the steps to a professional.

It was hard to believe when I discovered that our complex jaw and teeth structure evolved from rodent-like mammals called tritheledont. Not only that, the substance that makes up the hardness in our teeth, hydroxyapatite, can be found in our common ancestors with fish. This connects to the making of organs including hair, feather, breast, and scales. With this, the chapter is another contribution to the same overall theme of evolution.