Scientists discovered that the ratfish, a primitive fish, has a unique appendage called a tenaculum with true teeth outside its head, challenging traditional views on tooth placement and suggesting more flexible dental systems in vertebrates.
Scientists discovered that male ratfish use a unique, tooth-lined, club-shaped appendage on their forehead called a tenaculum to cling to females during mating, challenging previous assumptions that it was covered in scales and revealing new insights into vertebrate teeth development and evolution.
Scientists studied the unique mating adaptation of ratfish (chimaeras), which use a fleshy, tooth-studded appendage on their forehead called a tenaculum to grip females during reproduction, a feature that is highly unusual in the animal kingdom.