intro to teeth chomp chomp chew. naming teeth… animals teeth varies based on type of diet...

Intro to Teeth

Chomp chomp chew

Naming teeth…

Animals’ teeth varies based on type of diet

• Carnivores (meat eaters)-serrated teeth or sharp beak or teeth to slice and swallow

Gar

• Piscivores (fish eaters)-many pointy teeth

Barracuda

Eagle

Cougar

• Herbivores (plant eaters)-Deer, horses, rodents & rabbits have flattened, nearly identical pre-molars & molars. These teeth have exposed enamel & dentine ridges on their surfaces to grind plants.  Rodents have ever-growing incisors for gnawing plants or wood.

horse

rabbit iguana

• Durophagous (hard or shelled prey)-broadly rounded, short and conical

• Insectivores (insect eaters)-for hard-bodied insects, predators have V or W shaped teeth; for soft-bodied insects, teeth are reduced, insects are retrieved with tongue

Caiman lizard

armadillo

• Planktivores (plankton eaters)-shovel-like bills or baleen

Shoveler (bird)

Baleen whale

• Omnivores (plant and animal eaters)-– Primates (including humans) and pigs are

good examples.   – Pre-molars & molars have small cusps for

grinding, but are not otherwise highly specialized. 

– Canines may be short or long & may be used for function unrelated to killing prey.

Human

primatepig