Chapter 4 - Teeth Everywhere

I’ve always known that teeth are important to our bodies, but what I didn’t know is that in a way, they are vital organs to many creatures. Without teeth, they wouldn’t be able to break down foods that do not fit into their mouths. I would have never guessed that a single tooth can tell so much about a creature’s life.

It is interesting to learn that the small animals like the Morganucodon and the Eozostrodon hold important pieces of us inside. The discovery of the tritheledant was interesting. I would have never thought that a part mammal, part reptile creature had ever existed. To read that the conodonts were made up of sponges, vertebrates, and worms, and then to later read that they were the teeth of jawless fish made me wonder how sponges, vertebrates, and worms could be used as teeth.

Like Shubin said, the theme of the first four chapters is to show that we can trace the same organs in different creatures. It is captivating to know that other creatures that lived millions of years ago, have the same organs and bone structure that humans have today.