Color Banding in Dinosaur Teeth- Reason?

["Darren Tanke" <dtanke@dns.magtech.ab.ca>]

 Colleagues,
 
 I have come across a peculiar phenomenon in Late Cretaceous tyrannosaurid
(GORGOSAURUS, ALBERTOSAURUS) teeth from Alberta, Canada. While the teeth are
usually preserved a  golden-brown color, some show series of thin stacked
white or yellowish-colored bands, numbering from 2-6. These do not run
lengthways on the tooth crown, but rather each "wrap around" thus forming
one continuous line. They can be found near the base, tip, or middle- no
consistent pattern. I have also seen this effect (more common) on
contemporaneous crocodile (LEIDYOSUCHUS) teeth. Anyone out there have any
ideas as to the cause of this banding effect? I'm thinking along the lines
of pathological enamel hypoplasia in extant HOMO. This can cause banding in
our teeth and reflects a poor or inconsistent good diet. I'd like to make
contact with anyone who has observed similar features on teeth of any
extinct or extant vertebrate or has ideas as to their cause.

 Darren
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FAEVUS QUAESITOR SCIENTIA                                  FODERE AUT CADERE

DARREN TANKE, Technician I, Dinosaur Research Program, ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM
OF PALAEONTOLOGY, Box 7500, Drumheller, Alberta, CANADA  T0J 0Y0 and:

Senior editor of: Annotated Bibliography of Paleopathology, Dento-Osteopathy
and Related Topics. 12,342 citations as of March 26, 1998.
For details, visit the bibliography homepage at: http://dns.magtech.ab.ca/dtanke
Can you help (translations, photocopying or financial support) with this
ongoing project? Email me at: dtanke@dns.magtech.ab.ca
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