An examination of triassic cynodont tooth enamel chemistry using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Abstract

The Cynodontia are considered to be particularly significant as their remains document the reptile-to-mammal transition during the Permian and Triassic periods. Studies examining cynodont morphology and anatomy have shown that these animals acquired increasingly mammal-like characteristics during their evolution. In this study, we use Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy to assess the enamel structure of several Triassic cynodonts. Extant Crocodylus niloticus and Varanus enamel spectra as well as published extant and fossil mammalian data were used as comparisons. The profiles of the cynodont spectra resemble biological apatite, in spite of their great age. The ratio of structural carbonate to phosphate in these cynodonts is significantly higher than in the extant and fossil mammals, but very similar to the extant reptiles. We suggest that the enamel apatite structure of these cynodonts was more similar to the reptilian rather than the mammalian pattern.