Animals That Have the Most Teeth
Imagine a crocodile or an alligator. Their mouths look as if they have an infinite number of teeth. But they are not record-holders for the biggest number of teeth. Nature gave the biggest number of teeth to those we’d never even thought of.
With 5-Minute Crafts, you will find out about the animals that have the most teeth.
Snail
If you look at any snail from below, you will see a mouth with some sort of a tiny tongue. On this “tongue,” there are up to 25,600 teeth. Snails don’t bite off or chew food the way we do. They use their teeth as microscopic graters that grind the food.
Clams eat very slowly, so they have to work a lot to eat. In silence, especially at night, you can actually hear the sound of their “chewing.”
Here’s another interesting fact about snails’ mouths. According to a study, the teeth of Patella vulgata snails consist of the most durable biological material on the planet.
Catfish
The biggest number of teeth among fish was registered in catfish. Depending on the kind, they might have up to 9,280 teeth.
The teeth of catfish grow in many rows on the inside of the lips. They are needle-shaped and curved to the back. Such anatomy doesn’t let the prey get out of the mouth or get washed out by the water.
Giant armadillo
Giant armadillos that can reach up to 40 inches in length and up to 72 pounds in weight are record-holders in terms of the number of teeth among land mammals. They have anywhere from 80 to 100 teeth.
Armadillos only eat insects and small invertebrates. They can eat an entire colony of ants or termites in one go.
Giant armadillos also have the longest claws among modern mammals. Their front paws look like that so they can dig up the homes of insects and protect themselves from enemies — big predators.
Shark
Sharks can’t compete with catfish in terms of the number of teeth but they can brag about having several rows of teeth. When a shark loses a tooth, another one takes its place.
This process happens throughout their entire lives. So an average shark loses up to several dozens of teeth every month, and during their lives, they can get up to 35,000 teeth.
Bonus: Crocodiles and alligators
The number of teeth in these animals seems very small compared to the other animals in this article. Crocodiles have around 60 teeth, and alligators, 70-80. It might seem very moderate for a predator that eats big animals.
But evolution planned everything very carefully. The teeth of the upper and lower jaws fit each other perfectly, like a jigsaw puzzle. Additionally, their muscles can close the jaws with amazing power: one bite can crush big bones. These reptiles don’t need more teeth than they have to hunt and survive.