Teeth are one of the most fascinating innovations of vertebrates. Their diversity of shape, size, location, and number in vertebrates is astonishing. If the molecular mechanisms underlying the morphogenesis of individual teeth are now relatively well understood, thanks to the detailed experimental work that has been performed in model organisms (mainly mouse and zebrafish), the mechanisms that control the organization of the dentition are still a mystery. Mammals display simplified dentitions when compared to other vertebrates with only a single tooth row positioned in the anterior part of the mouth, whereas other vertebrates exhibit tooth rows in many locations. As proposed 60 years ago, tooth rows can be formed sequentially from an initiator tooth. Recent results in zebrafish have now largely confirmed this hypothesis. Here this observation is generalized upon and it is suggested that in most vertebrates tooth rows could form sequentially from a single initiator tooth.

中文翻译：

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脊椎动物牙齿排：它是由单个组织牙齿引发的吗？

牙齿是脊椎动物最迷人的创新之一。它们在脊椎动物中的形状、大小、位置和数量的多样性令人惊讶。如果现在对单个牙齿形态发生的分子机制有了相对较好的了解，这要归功于在模式生物（主要是小鼠和斑马鱼）中进行的详细实验工作，那么控制牙列组织的机制仍然是个谜。与其他脊椎动物相比，哺乳动物显示出简化的牙列，只有一个牙齿排位于口腔前部，而其他脊椎动物则在许多位置显示出牙齿排。正如 60 年前提出的，齿列可以从起始齿依次形成。斑马鱼的最新结果现在在很大程度上证实了这一假设。