Wolffish teeth contain a rare material that shrinks when squeezed rather than expanding
By 
Rebecca Trager2026-01-12T11:06:00
Osteodentin found in the core of this bottom-dwelling Atlantic Ocean predator’s teeth could inspire new designs for stronger, more resilient materials
The teeth of the Atlantic wolffish, a bottom-dwelling predator in the North Atlantic Ocean, are strong enough to crush hard-shelled prey and now new analysis has revealed that their core contains an extremely rare material that helps it carry out its task.
An international team led by researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, has found that the osteodentin in the teeth of Atlantic wolffish is auxetic, shrinking in every direction when squeezed along its length. Auxeticity is the tendency of a material to become thicker rather than thinner when stretched.