Dentition

What types of diets are there?

Herbivore, omnivore, carnivore

What is the diet of a herbivore?

They have plant based diets so digest mainly cellulose, which is difficult to digest

What is the diet of a carnivore?

Mainly animal tissues which are rich in protein and fat and easy to digest

What diet do omnivores have?

A mixed diet of plants and meat so need to be able to digest a wide range of foods

What is the role of teeth in digestion?

They mechanically digest food to increase the surface area for enzyme action and make it easier to swallow

What types of teeth are there?

Incisors bite and tear flesh, canines grip prey, molars and premolars are adapted to grind plant tissue in herbivores and omnivores whilst carnivores shear flesh from bones with them

What dentition do herbivores need to sustain themselves?

Their teeth are adapted to grind tough plant tissues to release nutrients. Plant material contains a large proportion of cellulose and other fibres which protects cell contents and makes plant material harder and less nutritious than animal meat

What is the dentition of herbivores?

There is no need for any large biting force, but the mass enter muscle is large to grind plant material.

Molars and premolars are highly ridged with an interlocking MW shape to provide a large grinding surface for the mechanical digestion of grass.

There are no incisors on the upper jaw, so herbivores use the incisors on their lower jaw to cut plant material against the horny pad on the upper jaw

A diastema between the front teeth (canines) and back teeth (premolars) means that sheep can use their tongue to divide the buccal cavity in two and move plant material between areas of teeth

The jaw moves from side to side in a circular action with loose articulation in a horizontal plane

The grinding surfaces on the cheek teeth wear down to expose enamel ridges to help the grinding process

Teeth have open, unrestricted roots so they continue to grow throughout the life of the animal

What is the dentition of carnivores?

The incisors and canines are adapted for biting and gripping prey as they are enlarged and sharp to be able to tear flesh from the bones. Canines are curved

Carnassials (premolars and molars) have single ridges and slide past each other, acting like scissors to shear flesh when cutting and crushing

The jaw muscles move up and down in the vertical plane powerfully to hold onto their prey when hunting, exerting a great deal of force when eating and cracking bones (they do not need to chew their food much before swallowing). Jaws can also open very wide