The field of dental calculus research has exploded in recent years, predominantly due to the multitude of studies related to human genomes and oral pathogens. Despite having a subset of these studies devoted to non-human primates, little progress has been made in the distribution of oral pathogens across domestic and wild animal populations. This overlooked avenue of research is particularly important at present when many animal populations with the potentiality for zoonotic transmission continue to reside in close proximity to human groups due to reasons such as deforestation and climatic impacts on resource availability. Here, we analyze all previously available published oral microbiome data recovered from the skeletal remains of animals, all of which belong to the Mammalia class. Our genus level results emphasize the tremendous diversity of oral ecologies across mammals in spite of the clustering based primarily on host species. We also discuss the caveats and flaws in analyzing ancient animal oral microbiomes at the species level of classification. Lastly, we assess the benefits, challenges, and gaps in the current knowledge of dental calculus research within animals and postulate the future of the field as a whole.

近年来，牙结石研究领域呈爆炸式增长，主要是由于与人类基因组和口腔病原体相关的大量研究。尽管这些研究中有一部分专门针对非人类灵长类动物，但在家畜和野生动物种群中口腔病原体的分布方面却几乎没有取得任何进展。目前，由于森林砍伐和气候对资源可用性的影响等原因，许多具有人畜共患病传播潜力的动物种群继续居住在人类群体附近，这种被忽视的研究途径尤其重要。在这里，我们分析了所有先前发表的从动物骨骼遗骸中回收的口腔微生物组数据，所有这些数据都属于哺乳动物类。我们的属水平结果强调了哺乳动物口腔生态的巨大多样性，尽管聚类主要基于宿主物种。我们还讨论了在物种分类水平上分析古代动物口腔微生物组的注意事项和缺陷。最后，我们评估了当前动物牙结石研究知识的好处、挑战和差距，并假设了整个领域的未来。