CH. 4 Teeth Everywhere

This chapter seems to take both a step forward and back. It discusses the newly revealed importance of teeth, but does circle back to the idea of rocks and how they help make critical discoveries. Teeth, just like hands, have a major impact on understanding how humans came to be what they are today because of their variety of functions. I've always taken my teeth for granted and never really thought about how important they were to my everyday life, but now, after reading this week's chapter, I feel fully informed on their every detail in performance when I chew. I also had no idea that our front teeth were called incisors and that our middle teeth were called premolars. I didn't even know that if my upper and lower teeth didn't match perfect, that they would shatter. Because teeth are implanted into our bodies and interact with our tissues the same way breasts, feathers, and hairs do, teeth help scientists make assumptions about what those listed might have been like on an animal or human's body.

Besides my knowledge on teeth increasing, getting reminded about the importance of rocks and more was also interesting. I though it was a good idea how Neil Shubin told us that just like us, he had no idea how someone could distinguish a common piece of rubble, from pieces of bones and teeth. However, getting practice and experience in finding "something different" was what allowed him to accomplish an eye for it. At the end, it was fascinating how Shubin described that, "The biological processes that make these different organs are versions of the same thing". This is what made the idea that he has on evolution a little more clear. I am anticipating what new discoveries he will reveal and their connections to modern day as we continue to read Your Inner Fish.