*sigh*
ok, randman, nevermind. don't think. you need to know something about biology first, so it's schooling time.
crocodilian teeth do not interlock and alternate. they also protrude above and below the gumline, and often below the jaw. reptilian teeth are all analagous forms, just varying in size (exlucing dimetrodons and ancestral mammals). whales have similar, but not analagous teeth. note the differences in curvature.
crocodile teeth are more similar to these guys:
flattened at the edges, round in the center. whale teeth are round all the way around. reptilian teeth tend to be serated on the front and back egde, i don't imagine that whale teeth are because they don't have edges. whale teeth are slightly bulbous towards the end, reptile teeth are larger towards the base. whale teeth have slight second curve in teh root structure, reptilian teeth don't. reptile teeth point backwards, whale teeth point down.
the jaw structure works differently, too. whales have a post-orbital ridge, that the musclature attaches through, like most other mammals. reptiles have a flat hinge. the cranial structure in that area is also different, mammals have a recession for the muscle to attach to, reptiles have a hole.
This message has been edited by arachnophilia, 12-02-2005 07:04 PM
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