Pharyngula

Pharyngula:

"We hypothesize that the loss of teeth in birds was due to the loss of direct apposition between an epithelial signaling center at the oral/aboral boundary and the underlying mesenchyme of the oral cavity competent to form integumentary appendages. Our model provides a unique developmental mechanism for understanding how specific structures are lost and reinitiated and goes beyond contemporary models of selective gene loss or loss of signaling capability during tooth ontogeny in evolution."