The world of animals is a unique one. Different species have various traits that make them special in the kingdom of animals. Amongst these traits are the mouths of animals, particularly their teeth.
Some people have wondered which animals possess long teeth. This informative blog will take a look at animals with long teeth. Make sure to read it all the way until its end to learn all about this topic.
Animals with long teeth
1. Sperm whale
Sperm whales are known for having up to twenty-six teeth in their lower jaw. These teeth are shaped like cones and the lower jaw is narrow. Although the primary food source of the sperm whale is the giant squid, researchers have discovered their teeth are not part of the feeding events. Their teeth are approximately 8 inches long.
2. Zebra
The teeth in the mouth of a zebra consist of twelve premolars and twelve molars. Together these form the cheek teeth of the zebra. As you’d expect, a zebra’s teeth are used for the crushing and grinding of their food.
3. Tiger
Adult tigers have extremely strong jaws in order to catch hold of moving prey. Encompassed in these jaws total thirty with sixteen in the upper jaw and fourteen in the lower one.
A unique fact of the adult tiger is that their lower jaws can only move up and down. They utilize their carnassial teeth to shear large chunks of meat. When a tiger is snarling, its large teeth are very obvious
4. Crocodile
Crocodiles are not known for being animals with long teeth. However, their teeth are incredibly sharp. Once the crocodile has grabbed its prey, their teeth will penetrate the prey and hold it in place.
They’ll then take the animal underwater and the notorious death-roll commences. Their teeth are not designed for chewing the meat, they swallow whole chunks that they rip off. A crocodile’s jaws are one of the most feared in the animal kingdom due to their strong bite force.
5. Horse
Mature male horses have 40-42 permanent teeth and mares have 36-40 permanent teeth. The difference is due to the fact that mares only have one pair of incisors (the front two teeth) while stallions have two pairs.
A horse’s teeth are typically 4.5–5 inches long, though their molars can grow even longer in some cases. Horse teeth can be broken down into three categories: incisors (which are responsible for biting off pieces of food), premolars (which help chew food), and molars (which grind food).
6. Walrus
Although the walrus is best known for its extremely long tusks, the do have rudimentary teeth as well. Most individual walruses have eighteen teeth, but some have as many as thirty-two.
These teeth grow to almost two inches in length. Although the teeth of the walrus are not used for feeding, a human still would not want to encounter them.
7. Hippopotamus
An adult hippopotamus can have as many as thirty-six teeth. Hippos are known for their long incisors that can reach a length of 1.2 feet! The snapping jaws of the hippo when prey is in its mouth can crush the unfortunate animal and break it in two.
Humans try to avoid coming in contact with the hippopotamus. Even though Africa is home to lions and other large cats, no animal is as dangerous and formidable as the hippo.
8. Shark
Sharks are not known for being animals with long teeth; however, they make up for that by having multiple rows of sharp teeth. In some individual sharks, both the upper and lower jaws can have up to fifteen separate rows of teeth. This enables the animal to kill and eat pray very easily.
9. Chimpanzee
Chimpanzees tend to sport an average of thirty-two teeth. Although most of their teeth are not really long, the exception is in their canines. If you look into the mouth of a chimp, you will definitely spot these long canine teeth. Most of their teeth are permanent when the chimps reach adulthood.
10. Camel
The camel is another animal where most of their adult teeth are an average length with the exception of their four canines. One of the more unusual facts about camel teeth is that their permanent teeth do not begin growing until they reach approximately five years old. Overall, the camel has around thirty-four teeth in their mouths.
11. Elephant
One can say the elephant is a tough act to follow when it comes to the length of their teeth. However, this statement is a little misleading. The tusks of an elephant are not really what you think of when you think teeth.
Both the Asian and African variety of elephants will have 26 teeth in their lifetimes. Each molar is roughly brick-sized and can weigh upwards of 4 pounds.
12. Beaver
The average length of a beaver’s incisors is between twenty and twenty-five millimeters long. They are chisel-shaped which is what enables them to bite through hard substances such as wood.
An unusual aspect of a beaver’s teeth is that they can appear orange in color. Even though a beaver is not particularly aggressive, a mother may use her sharp teeth to defend her young. A beaver’s teeth grow continuously throughout their life, which is part of the reason they are constantly wearing them down as they chew on wood.
