Abstract
The typical structure of a chondrichthyan tooth includes a base (or root), allowing it to be fixed to the cartilage of the jaw, and a crown composed of dentin and covered with enameloid. The variability in the tissue composition of these various structures was recognized very early and has generated a considerable amount of study with occasionally contradictory results. Histological characteristics have been and are still used in combination with the morphological characteristics of dentition, enabling in some cases the identification and classification of fossil taxa with unclear affinities. Numerous studies followed on the heels of those of Agassiz (1833) and Owen (1840), aimed at clarifying the systematic and functional interests of histological and microstructural characteristics. These questions are still not wholly resolved, due largely to a sampling that remains too small to identify the range of variation of histological characteristics satisfactorily and to a poor understanding of the developmental mechanisms of the origin of these tissues.
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