Grand Challenges in Comparative Tooth Biology Integrative and Comparative Biology

From the symposium “Biology at the Cusp: Teeth as a Model Phenotype for Integrating Developmental Genomics, Biomechanics, and Ecology” presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology January 3–7, 2020 at Austin, Texas. Synopsis Teeth are a model system for integrating developmental genomics, functional morphology, and evolution. We are at the cusp of being able to address many open issues in comparative tooth biology and we outline several of these newly tractable and exciting research directions. Like never before, technological advances and methodological approaches are allowing us to investigate the developmental machinery of vertebrates and discover both conserved and excitingly novel mechanisms of diversification. Additionally, studies of the great diversity of soft tissues, replacement teeth, and non-trophic functions of teeth are providing new insights into dental diversity. Finally, we highlight several emerging model groups of organisms that are at the forefront of increasing our appreciation of the mechanisms underlying tooth diversification.