XB-ART-26984
J Exp Zool
1989 Jan 01;2491:99-104. doi: 10.1002/jez.1402490117.
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A morphometric study of bone and tooth volumes in the pipid frog Xenopus laevis (Daudin), with comments on the importance of tooth resorption during normal tooth replacement.
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Volumetric estimations of teeth and bone on serial sections using a semiautomatic image analyzer indicate that, in the polyphyodont dentition of the pipid anuran Xenopus laevis (Daudin), the mean volume of the dentine composing the teeth is about 23.5% of the volume of the supporting maxillae and premaxillae. During tooth replacement, osteoclasts resorb up to 98% of the dentine. Teeth may be resorbed rather than shed in order to conserve tooth constituents because, if shedding of complete teeth did occur, a quantity of calcified tissue equal to perhaps 45 times the volume of the bone of the upper jaw might be lost over an animal's projected life span of about 13-15 years.
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