An Electron Microscope Study of Asiatic Elephant Tooth Enamel

Abstract

An electron microscopical observation of the replicas of polished and etched surface of asiatic elephant tooth enamel was carried out in order to examine the histological differences and varieties of enamel microstructure in relation to the position within an individual molar and the order of eruption as to five molars. Through the observation the histological differences were found to be almost negligible for the purpose of the correlation and identification of fossil proboscidea. Three different layers of the enamel were discriminated and one of them, intermediate layer, was recommended as the representative of the typical specific patterns.