Fossil reveals earliest Example of Tooth Abscess
A 275 million year old fossil has revealed the earliest documented example of a tooth abscess.
The Labidosaurus hamatus fossil shows clear signs of a dental abscess; the fossil has been analysed in detail using X-ray images in the Naturwissenschaften journal.
The animal was one of the first species to have one permanent set of teeth, rather than having teeth that continuously grow. Experts believe that changing to a plant-based diet would have made the animal more prone to infections and dental problems.
The fossil shows that tooth decay and dental health problems go back millions of years earlier than previously thought; before this find, the earliest example of tooth decay was believed to be 200 million years later.
The Labidosaurus hamatus was one of the terrestrial reptiles; the change from living in water promoted a change of diet, which caused it to be more susceptible to tooth loss and decay. The fossil was discovered in Texas.
Join this Discussion
The name Labidosaurus means “lipped lizard”, here at Everything Dinosaur we think the name should be changed to “sore-lipped lizard” in the light of this new study.