A crowning success for crayfish
Friday, May 18, 2012 - 21:30
in Biology & Nature
Australian freshwater crayfish have a tooth enamel very similar to humans. Nature sometimes copies its own particularly successful developments. Scientists have now found that the teeth of the Australian freshwater crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus are covered with an enamel amazingly similar to that of vertebrates. Both materials consist of calcium phosphate and are also very alike in terms of their microstructure. This extremely hard substance has apparently developed in freshwater crayfish independently from vertebrates, as it makes the teeth particularly strong.