Do other animals have baby teeth?

[Saggy]

So, I was watching an episode of Futurama where they base Nibbler's age off of the number of rings in his fang. Well, the thought occurred to me, "What if he had already lost his baby teeth?" At which point was the first time it had ever hit me: I don't know of any animal that has a set of baby teeth and then a set of adult teeth. I mean, I know sharks constantly grow knew ones, but that's not really the same.

 

So for that matter, do other animals even have to wait for their teeth to come in, or are they born with the ones they have forever at birth?

[Girish]

This is interesting:

 

Animal teeth have the same four tissues that make up human teeth: enamel, dentin, cementum, and pulp. The composition and structure of each substance may differ in each animal. In horses, for example, enamel is found inside the tooth as well as on the outer surface, rather than simply encasing the dentin and the pulp as it does in human teeth.

 

Some animals are monophyodont, developing only one set of teeth that grow continuously throughout an animal’s lifetime. These animals have open-rooted teeth, which have wide openings at the root that permit dentin-forming cells to grow and multiply. Most rodents, for example, have open-rooted teeth. The gnawing habits of these animals wear down their teeth, otherwise the teeth would grow very long. The front teeth of beavers, for example, can grow up to 1.2 m (4 ft) a year. Sharks and some other fish are polyphyodont—that is, they continuously lose their teeth and develop new ones.

 

Most mammals that depend on catching, chewing, and digesting food for survival have developed teeth that meet these needs. Mammal teeth are classified by the type of food the animal eats. Insectivores are animals that eat only insects, such as bats, shrews, anteaters, and armadillos. These animals have square teeth with special V-shaped edges that efficiently grind the hard coverings of insects. Carnivores, such as dogs, cats, hyenas, and walruses, generally have large and well-developed teeth with long canines for clamping down on prey or fighting. A walrus also uses its canines, which grow up to 1 m (about 3 ft) long, as hooks in climbing on ice. Herbivores—cows, sheep, deer, and horses, for example—eat only plants and have sharp incisors for cutting vegetation and flat teeth with complicated ridges for grinding and mashing. Piscivores, or fish-eaters, have sharp teeth that angle backward to catch and hold their prey. Seals and dolphins swallow food whole without chewing it first; they are equipped with many identical, conical-shaped teeth that are used to catch and grasp their slippery prey before swallowing.

 

Fish teeth have evolved to perform different functions in each species. For example, fish that feed on crab, shrimp, and other crustaceans have developed strong, blunt teeth for crushing and grinding the hard outer shells. Piranhas have serrated teeth that fit together like scissors, enabling the small fish to cut the flesh from their prey. Many fish have teeth on their tongues or gills. A hagfish uses the rasping teeth on its tongue to bore holes in its victims and drain their blood. Sawfish have long, flat beaks with a row of weaponlike tooth projections in each jaw that can cut their prey in half.

 

Only some reptiles and amphibians have teeth. Salamanders have rows of small pointed teeth, but frogs and toads do not have teeth after infancy. Some snakes and frogs develop an egg tooth that enables a hatching young to chip its way out of its egg. This tooth eventually disappears. Many reptiles have teeth growing on the tongue or the palate, and some even have a second set in the throat. Some snakes, such as rattlesnakes, have prominent fangs for delivering injections of venom to their victims. Crocodiles have between 30 and 40 teeth in each jaw. These reptiles use their daunting teeth not for chewing, but to gradually tear food into bits as they thrash violently with their prey in the water.

 

Link: http://encarta.msn.com/text_761561931__1/teeth.html

[tw!tch]

interesting thought there, and nice copy paste from girishb . i enjoy learning about random sh*t like this.

 

 

Off-topic: @Sagacious: i f*cking love your avy, robot chicken is great!