Molare tribosfenico

The shape of the Molare with three cuspids, which is considered one of the most important characteristics of mammals, is called tribosfenica, and it allows for greater efficiency in the chewing of food, combining a cutting function and a shredding function.

This shape of molar has two important features: the trigonide, which is the anterior part of the crown, consisting of three main cusps (protocone, paracone and metacone) arranged in a triangular form whose function is chewing, and Talonides, which is the rear part of the crown, which has a depression called the "talonidal pelvis", into which the protocone of the corresponding upper tooth whose function is chewing is inserted.

And with the exception of the Jurassic Mammal Shuotherium, the Talonis is located behind the trigonide.

The tribosfenic form appears in all species of mammals, with the exception of monotremes, where it seems that it has developed independently rather than by a common ancestor with marsupials and placentates.^[1]