The molars or molar teeth are the most posterior and most complicated kind of tooth in

most mammals. In many mammals theygrind food during chewing; hence the Latin name mola,
"millstone". Molars show a great deal of diversity in size and shape across mammal groups.
Contents
[hide]

1 Human anatomy

2 Mammal evolution

3 Morphology
o

3.1 Tribosphenic

3.2 Quadrate

3.3 Bunodont

3.4 Hypsodont

3.5 Brachydont

3.6 Zalambdodont

3.7 Dilambdodont

3.8 Lophodont

3.9 Selenodont

3.10 Secodont

4 See also

5 Notes

6 References

7 External links

Human anatomy[edit]
In humans, the molars are four- or five-cusped teeth. Adult humans have twelve molars, in four
groups of three at the back of the mouth. The third, rearmost molar in each group is called a wisdom
tooth. It is the last tooth to appear, breaking through the front of the gum at about the age of twenty,
although this varies from individual to individual. Ethnicity can also have an impact on the age at
which this occurs, with statistical variations between groups.[1] In some cases, it may not even erupt
at all.

The human mouth contains upper (maxillary) and lower (mandibular) molars. They are: maxillary first
molar, maxillary second molar,maxillary third molar, mandibular first molar, mandibular second
molar, and mandibular third molar.
Further information: Dental anatomy and Human tooth

Mammal evolution[edit]
See also: Mammal tooth
In mammals, the crown of the molars and premolars are folded into a wide range of complex
shapes. The basic elements of the crown are the more or less conical projections called cusps and
the valleys that separate them. The cusps contain both dentine and enamel, whereas minor
projections on the crown, called crenullations, are the result of different enamel thickness. Cusps are
occasionally joined to form ridges and expanded to form crests. Cingula are often incomplete ridges
that pass around the base of the crown.[2]
These mammalian multi-cusped cheek teeth probably evolved from single-cusped teeth in reptilians,
although the diversity oftherapsid molar patterns and the complexity in the molars of the earliest
mammals makes it impossible to determine how this happened. According to the widely accepted
"differentiation theory" additional cusps have arisen by budding or outgrowth from the crown, while
the rivalling "concrescence theory" instead proposes that complex teeth evolved by clustering of
originally separate conical teeth. It is generally agreed that therian mammals (placentals and
marsupials) evolved from an ancestor with tribosphenic cheek teeth, with three main cusps arranged
in a triangle.[2]

Comparison of cheek teeth in various taxa: 1, Reptile; 2, Dromatherium (a Triassic Cynodont);

3, Microconodon (a Triassic Eucynodont); 4, Spalacotherium (a Cretaceous Symmetrodont);
5, Amphitherium (a Jurassic mammal).

Morphology[edit]

Generalized cusp of a mammalian molar. ant, anterior; pos, posterior; ci, lingual cingulum; pa, paraconid; pr,
protoconid; me, metaconid; hy, hypoconid; hl, hypoconulid; ec, entocristid; tb, talonid basin

Each major cusp on an upper molar is called a cone and is identified by a prefix dependent on its
relative location on the tooth: proto-, para-, meta-, hypo-, and ento-. Suffixes are added to these
names: -id is added to cusps on a lower molar (e.g., protoconid); -ule to a minor cusp (e.g.,
protoconulid). A shelf-like ridge on the lower part of the crown (on an upper molar) is called
a cingulum; the same feature on the lower molar a cingulid, and a minor cusp on these, for example,
a cingular cuspule or conulid.[3]

Tribosphenic[edit]

Generalized tribosphenic molar. The protocone is on the lingual (tongue) side while the anteriorparacone and
posterior metacone are on the buccal (cheek) side of the jaw).

The molar design that is considered one of the most important characteristics of mammals is a
three-cusped shape called a tribosphenic molar. This molar design has two important features:
the trigonid, or shearing end, and the talonid, or crushing heel. In modern tribosphenic molars the
trigonid is towards the front of the jaw and the talonid towards the rear.
The tribosphenic tooth is found in insectivores and young platypuses (adults have no teeth). Upper
molars look like three-pointed mountain ranges; lowers look like two peaks and a third off to the side.
The tribosphenic design appears primitively in all groups of mammals. Some paleontologists believe
that it developed independently inmonotremes (or australosphenidans), rather than being inherited
from an ancestor that they share with marsupials and placentals (or boreosphenidans); but this idea
has critics and the debate is still going on.[4] For example, the dentition of the Early
Cretaceousmonotreme Steropodon is similar to those of Peramus and dryolestoids, which suggests
that monotremes are related to some pre-tribosphenic therian mammals, [5] but, on the other hand,
the status of neither of these two groups is well-established.
Some Jurassic mammals, such as Shuotherium and Pseudotribos, have "reversed tribosphenic"
molars, in which the talonid is towards the front. This variant is regarded as an example
of convergent evolution.[6]
From the primitive tribosphenic tooth, molars have diversified into several unique morphologies. In
many groups a fourth cusp, the hypocone (hyponconid) subsequently evolved (see below).