Aulacodont dentition explained

Aulacodonty is a type of dentition in which teeth are arranged within grooves rather than individual sockets (like in thecodonty) or without bone encasement (like in acrodonty and pleurodonty). It is known from several aquatic amniotes: ichthyosaurs, Hesperornis, Ichthyornis, juvenile caimans, some cetaceans^[1] and even some ctenochasmatoid pterosaurs.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Thomas J. C. Bertin et al, Current Perspectives on Tooth Implantation, Attachment, and Replacement in Amniota, Front. Physiol., 21 November 2018Sec. Craniofacial Biology and Dental ResearchVolume 9 - 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.01630
2. Chang-Fu Zhou et al, First evidence for tooth-tooth occlusion in a ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, November 2021Geological Society London Special Publications 521(1):SP521-2021-141DOI: 10.1144/SP521-2021-141