chapter 4

This chapter was a lot less technical then the previous one and seemed more exciting. Who would have thought our teeth were so important? I knew animals have teeth that vary according to the type of food they eat, but to be able to predict so much about an animal from just a single tooth is amazing. Also I never knew that our teeth were strong then our bones. I mean I guess there would be some wear on them from chewing, but do they really have more risk of breaking then out bones do? The history of the teeth were especially interesting, on how the first primitive animals formed bone and teeth in defense from each other and how the fish had a shield of little teeth. That just seemed amazing to me, it's like Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest being played out, each animal gaining one defense after the other trying for the upper hand. Another interesting topic in this chapter was the search for fossils. I still dont understand how they can walk around all day and somehow be able to distinguish the slightest differenses in rocks that show fossil. The little teeth they found were supposed to be about a millimeter big, it makes me wonder if I'm stepping over fossils all the time and just never notice. I guess I'll be looking more closely now.