A Gorilla with Exceptionally Large Teeth and Supernumerary Premolars

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The skull of an adult male western gorilla with supernumerary premolars and extremely large teeth is of only average size and (in some respects) even below average. Exceptionally large cranial dimensions exist in this macrodont specimen only in the masticatory apparatus, (especially in the breadth of the palate and of the zygomatic arches) the height of the ramus-mandibulae and the thickness and height of the corpus-mandibulae. With the exception of the upper third molars and lower incisors, all the teeth are unusually large and extremely broad (surpassing the corresponding dental measurements of other gorillas). This combination of huge teeth in a very robust mandible and in an extremely wide palate with a brain case of moderate size in- dicates that the size of the teeth is not closely correlated with the size of the entire skull in primate palaeontology. The huge dentition is not accompanied by an equal lengthening of the jaws in which the teeth appear to be crowded, leaving hardly any space for the usual diastemata. The extensive exposure of many of the lateral roots in their alveoli indicates that the jaws are not quite large enough for the teeth. The supernumerary teeth most likely resulted from localized twinning in early development, similar to the origin of extra nipples and digits. The occurrence of extra premolars is extremely rare in gorillas in contrast to the frequently found fourth molars and the former is also much rarer than are crowded, displaced and reduced premolars.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: