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Lett."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\u2018Thecodont\u2019 refers to teeth implanted in sockets within the jaw, a condition traditionally associated with living mammals and crocodylians, which also coincidentally have teeth attached by ligaments to the socket walls (gomphosis). For over a century, the bony periodontium of many other amniotes has been described as a single tissue, \u2018bone of attachment\u2019, causing confusion over dental tissue homology. The conventional definitions of \u2018thecodonty\u2019 exclude species with fused teeth (\u2018ankylothecodonts\u2019), implying a fundamental difference between mammals, crocodylians and most other vertebrates. However, the stereotypically \u2018thecodont\u2019 attachment tissues have been discovered in representatives of all major amniote clades, showing that gomphosis and ankylosis likely stem from heterochronic changes in the timing and extent of cementum and alveolar bone mineralization. This challenges (i) previous hypotheses regarding the evolution of the amniote periodontium, (ii) the \u2018bone of attachment\u2019 paradigm, and (iii) the significance of \u2018thecodonty\u2019. We suggest a new nomenclatural approach that incorporates recent histological and evolutionary research and divides thecodonty into anatomical categories to clarify their origin and evolution. We propose the terms anisothecodont and isothecodont to denote, respectively, asymmetric and symmetric implantation of teeth in their sockets. Regardless of the geometry of the connection, we propose using ankylosis and gomphosis to denote the mode of tooth attachment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1098\/rsbl.2025.0316","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,23]],"date-time":"2025-09-23T23:08:07Z","timestamp":1758668887000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Rethinking thecodonty: the influence of two centuries of comparative dental anatomy on our understanding of tooth evolution"],"prefix":"10.1098","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5542-1772","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gabriel","family":"Mestriner","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Biologia, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo","place":["Ribeir\u00e3o Preto, Brazil"]},{"name":"Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto","place":["Toronto, Canada"]},{"name":"Royal Ontario Museum Department of Natural History","place":["Toronto, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3430-4398","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gregory F.","family":"Funston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Royal Ontario Museum Department of Natural History","place":["Toronto, Canada"]},{"name":"Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University","place":["Stony Brook, USA"]},{"name":"Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Davis","place":["Davis, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5290-7884","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"J\u00falio C. 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