taurodont, a.
(ˈtɔːrəʊdɒnt)
[f. tauro- + Gr. ὀδούς, ὀδοντ- tooth.]
Of mammalian molar teeth: having large broad crowns and short roots.
| 1915 A. Keith Antiquity of Man viii. 148 Molar teeth [in Neanderthal man] are large in crown and body and extremely short in root... To [sic] this peculiar form of molar tooth..I have proposed the name of ‘taurodont’. 1927 Peake & Fleure Hunters & Artists 18 This condition of the teeth, known as taurodont, has been found among some representatives of Neanderthal man. 1948 New Biol. V. 84 The teeth [of Neanderthal man]..are often of that specialised kind called ‘taurodont’—they are stumpy with short roots. 1971 Nature 5 Feb. 409/2 The frequent lack of incisors and well worn flattened taurodont molars superficially suggest the crateriform decay of Moon's mulberry molars. 1973 B. J. Williams Evolution & Human Origins x. 159/2 The molars and premolars are ‘Taurodont’, meaning that they have an enlarged pulp cavity. |