TITLE:
On the Separation Mechanism between a Shark’s Tooth and Its Jaw Base, with Special Emphasis on an Observation Made from a White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias
AUTHORS:
Erich K. Ritter, Andreas Dellios
KEYWORDS:
Shark, Tooth Loss, Tooth Shedding, White Shark
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.8 No.3,
July
23,
2018
ABSTRACT: Feeding is the likely cause for tooth shedding in
sharks. Although the overall process of loosing teeth has been well studied,
hardly any emphasis has been given to the actual separation mechanism between a
shark’s tooth base and the surrounding jaw tissue. Attention is given to this
very process, in connection to a never before videotaped tooth loss of a white
shark, Carcharodon carcharias, that occurred within 0.3 seconds. Since
the shark did not bite into anything prior to this observation, the cause for
this tooth loss does not seem feeding but fatigue related, triggered through a
combination of mechanical and potentially biochemical degradation processes.