Preliminary investigation of variations in tooth replacement in adult <i>Necturus maculosus</i>

Abstract

Abstract Although there are a number of studies on tooth replacement patterns in lower vertebrates, most do not indicate whether this process is continuous throughout the year or is affected by either breeding or seasonal cycles. We have surveyed the replacement patterns found in living and specifically killed Necturus maculosus (Amphibia: Proteidae) to determine the nature of their variation throughout the year prior to investigating possible controlling mechanisms of the formation and eruption of amphibian teeth. Some animals (34), kept in a large outside tank, were killed at monthly intervals and their tooth‐bearing bones radiographed using a modification of the technique previously described (Miller and Radnor, '70). Other animals (9), kept at 4°C, were anesthetized with tricaine methanesulphonate (M.S. 222), and wax impressions taken with beading (carding) wax of the functioning teeth at regular intervals. Animals examined in the late spring and summer (25) showed no signs of active tooth replacement. Small replacement teeth visible beneath each functioning tooth enlarged only slightly throughout the summer. In early and late fall some functioning teeth were lost and replacement teeth grew and erupted to replace them. Replacement patterns were very irregular and classical alternate form rarely seen. In a number of animals the replacement series was formed from every third tooth. Animals kept constantly at 4°C showed no replacement phenomena. Patterns varied between the different bones of the jaws and did not support the Zahnreihe concept of Edmund ('60).