The author’s ‘Variation in morphology of teeth’ (1978) reported findings in extracted teeth, part of which involved intensive study of deformity in maxillary third molars. This suggests that abnormal developmental relations could have obstructed or perverted the tooth’s potential morphology. Some third molar characters, seen also in well-developed palates and in various ethnic groups, may reflect a certain combination of normal variables. These latter teeth have hitherto aroused little comment other than their description as ‘co