X-ray crystallography of incisor enamel from red kangaroo.

X-ray powder diffraction of red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) dental enamel, with a relative density greater than 2.60, showed a longer a-axis length of the apatite unit cell, a = 9.462 A, a shorter c-axis length, c = 6.877 A, and a smaller crystallite size, ca. 185 A, than those of human dental enamel. The a-axis of red kangaroo dental enamel was one of the longest among the values reported previously, whereas the c-axis was one of the shortest. The crystallite size was almost equal to that of dentin crystallites. It is suggested that the chemical composition of the dental enamel apatite of the red kangaroo is markedly substituted, resulting in lattice distortion.