News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
If you’ve ever lived with a cat, you’ve probably received a painful chomp from your beloved furball’s pointy canines at least once. But 42 million years ago, your kitty’s teeth would have looked very different: Evolution was only just honing the teeth of cat-like animals to a deadly sharp tip for piercing and shredding flesh. … Read more
Iberospinus natarioi, a new species of spinosaur dinosaur found in Portugal, constantly grew new teeth to replace those it broke while hunting fish and other aquatic animals Life 16 February 2022 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre Life reconstruction of Iberospinus natarioi, showing detail of muscles, and a fossil of part of the lower jaw Mateus, Estraviz-Lopez et … Read more
Enamel, the tough outer covering of a tooth, is the hardest substance in the human body. It is also notoriously difficult to replicate artificially. Throughout history, dentists have repaired damaged and decayed teeth with everything from beeswax to mercury composites to modern ceramic- or resin-based materials. But they might soon have a synthetic option that … Read more
Early Bronze Age people in Syria crossed donkeys with wild asses to make prized horse-like hybrids, demonstrating advanced understanding of animal breeding Life 14 January 2022 By Alice Klein Equid skeletons from Tell Umm el-Marra, Syria Glenn Schwartz/John Hopkins University The bones of horse-like creatures unearthed in a 4500-year-old royal tomb in Syria are the … Read more
When you think of snails, sharp jagged teeth are not usually what comes to mind. But you might have to reconsider because these squishy mollusks have terrifying lickity-bits when you look close enough under the microscope. Snails use their weird-as-heck toothed-tongues called a radula to lick through all sorts of surfaces to feed, including grinding through … Read more