Have you ever seen a set of human teeth in a squid's mouth? And the teeth growing on the tongue? Maybe the teeth are 15 cm long? - Meet the most incredible teeth of the aquatic world.
The squid that regrows human teeth
The "Promacthoteuthis sulcus" squid is a true nightmare squid rising from the dark depths of the ocean. Fortunately, these teeth only look intimidating.
Those squid incisors are actually his lips. Like many members of the cephalopod class, this species of squid has a beak, but its unique curled lips camouflage it. What is the point then? - you ask. Don't be afraid of these pseudo-teeth, be afraid of the powerful beak hidden behind them. But what is even worse - be afraid of bending sickness and excruciating pressure if you see at least one of them, because in order to see it you will have to be hundreds of meters under water and in complete darkness.
The jawless animal that won the "World's Sharpest Teeth" award
What animal can have the sharpest teeth of all creatures and at the same time lack jaws? Of course, at the prehistoric condont (condont)! These animals, whose body length was 5 centimeters, inhabited the Earth 200 million years ago, cutting their food with teeth that were thinner than a human hair.
The image above shows a micrograph scan of the teeth of the condont, which cannot be seen with the naked eye. Not much is known about these ancient eels to science, but what is known for sure is that they could cut you if even one of these specimens got under your skin. Good news? They died out a very long time ago.
Minnow (Dragonfish) with teeth growing on the tongue
Don't think you'll get off lightly if a minnow bites into you - in addition to the usual set of sharp teeth, this deep-sea fish has teeth growing on its tongue!
Despite their intimidating appearance, the size of these creatures does not exceed 15 centimeters, so in fact they do not pose any threat. In addition, they live at great depths, so they never attack people. The gerbil lives in complete darkness and is almost blind, and uses alternative spatial orientation methods to survive and forage for food in an almost uninhabited environment.
A prehistoric shark whose teeth were over 15 centimeters long
How did it happen that the prehistoric shark, whose teeth were more than 15 centimeters long, died out? There was not a single creature that Megalodon could not tear, but, apparently, climate change influenced its disappearance.
The Megalodon was over 20 meters long, and during its lifetime it replaced approximately 20,000 teeth, losing and growing them in the same way as existing sharks do. Megalodon is regarded by many paleontologists as the most powerful creature ever to have lived on earth.
Bathysaurus
The name "Bathysaurus" (Bathysaurus ferox) sounds like a dinosaur, which, in principle, is not far from the truth. Bathysaurus ferox is a deep-sea lizard that lives in the tropical and subtropical seas of the world, at depths of 600 to 3500 meters. Its length reaches 50-65 centimeters. It is considered the deepest living super predator in the world. And all from the fact that he devours any creature that he meets on the way. Once the jaws of this devilish fish snap shut, it's game over. Even her tongue is studded with razor-sharp fangs.
The fish that can tear a cow to pieces in seconds
Piranha is one of the most notorious fish with a bad reputation, razor-sharp teeth and a tendency to attack large animals in whole schools. While in Brazil, Theodore Roosevelt witnessed a shoal of piranha tear a cow apart in a matter of seconds. This "feat" is proof of how sharp their teeth are, adapted to tearing off pieces of flesh.
As a rule, piranha teeth are triangular in shape, which provides better grip and allows piranhas to easily tear their prey to pieces. They are famous for gnawing at their prey, leaving behind only a pile of bones.
Whales that grow hair instead of teeth
The guys on How Stuff Works have a great analogy that will serve us well when discussing baleen whale teeth. The set of their teeth is more like a huge mustache located in the mouth. Moreover, as well as on most human whiskers, food collects on the whale's whiskers. Thus, the whale opens its mouth, takes in water, and passes it through its whiskers, while krill and other treats remain in its mouth.
Idiacant
Idiacanths are small, rather rare deep-sea fish of the Idiacanthidae family. They are most common in tropical and temperate waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Males are no longer than 7 cm and look more like a larva than a fish: there are no teeth, as well as a antennae characteristic of females at the bottom of the head. But their photophore is very well developed and occupies 1/3 of the head. Interestingly, the digestive system of males degrades by the time of puberty, they stop eating, and from that moment on, their life expectancy is only a couple of weeks. During this period, males passively soar in the water column at a depth of 1–2 km, and with their huge photophore attract females to mate. The latter are larger and reach a length of as much as half a meter. The huge mouth, dotted with sharp crooked teeth, never closes. An antennae departs from the chin, which, at times, exceeds the length of the head by 3 times and ends at the end with a thickening. The skin is dark, jet black and has no scales. Violet and golden photophores are scattered throughout the body.
On the palate of the convict fish are teeth similar to human
The convict fish (Sheepshead) is a widespread fish in North America and is hunted by many anglers. But what people don't notice is how weird this fish's teeth are. The human-like teeth that this species of fish have are strange in themselves, but they also have a row of teeth in the palate.
The teeth of this fish are quite blunt, so they are mainly used for cracking clams and oysters, which, together with crustaceans, form the main diet of the Convict Fish.
sabertooth
Sabertooth is a deep-sea fish that lives in tropical and temperate zones at a depth of 200 to 5,000 m. It grows up to 15 centimeters in length and weighs only 120 grams. The most remarkable thing about her is her two long fangs, which are located on the lower jaw. In relation to the body, these are the longest teeth in a fish known to science. And so that the saber-tooth could close its mouth, nature endowed it with special grooves in the upper jaw and divided the brain of the fish into two parts.
An animal whose teeth grow like trees
Unfortunately, looking at a dolphin and determining its age is a little more difficult than you might think. And while their teeth are excellent indicators of their age, in order to determine the age you have to pull one tooth from a dolphin and cut it in half. Dolphins have growth rings on their teeth, just like those found on a tree frame, and this allows scientists to calculate the approximate age of dolphins.
What kind of animals are not on planet Earth. And toothy, and eared, and tongued animals - in a word, the animal world of the planet is very diverse. By the number and shape of teeth, you can characterize an animal and understand what it eats.
In fact, animals need teeth not only to chew food, but also to scare away predators. Some animals use their teeth in everyday life, for example, for sawing, digging and moving on difficult routes. Today's article will talk about the most toothy animals on the planet.
photo:RobertThe ten most toothy creatures are opened by a dwarf armadillo. This mammal lives in North and Central America. Animals have been living on planet Earth for a very long time, and they appeared back in the days of dinosaurs. In addition, animals are also famous for their teeth. Inside one species alone, there can be from 28 to 40 teeth, and if the armadillo is gigantic, then the number of teeth can reach up to 100.
This feature is characteristic only of armadillos. Interestingly, the teeth differ not only within a particular species, but also in different individuals. The teeth of the pygmy armadillo grow constantly, but they themselves are small in size, they do not have caries and enamel, and the shape of all teeth is the same - cylindrical.
photo: Bob Zeller This small animal appeared on the planet only at the very end of the Cretaceous period and has not changed much since then. The common opossum is a small marsupial mammal that has an archaic dental formula that speaks of the primitiveness of these animals.
Opossums have 5 incisors in the upper jaw and 4 incisors in the lower. Canines and molars in opossums are very well developed. The total number of teeth in common opossums is 50.
photo: Steve Parish This anteater is also called nambat. Outwardly, the animal is very similar to an ordinary squirrel, but it belongs to the family of marsupial anteaters. Nambit has weak, asymmetrical and small teeth, the total number of which is 50-52 teeth. These teeth help the anteater to pierce only the shells of some insects, which are its main food.
photo: Dave Lobby This large mammal lives in the waters and is the only member of its family. The sperm whale has 60 teeth, of which 20-26 pairs are located on the lower jaw. When the mouth is closed, each tooth is inserted into a special recess located in the upper jaw.
In one of the British Museums you can see a huge jaw, the length of which reaches 5 meters, and its owner was a 27-meter sperm whale. Today, it is no longer possible to meet such giant sperm whales, since in the process of evolution they have become much smaller. To calculate the age of a sperm whale, you need to count the number of layers in the dentin of the sperm whale's tooth.
photo:somenametoforget Undoubtedly, this is the most toothy reptile in existence today. There are about 80 incredibly sharp teeth in the mouth of this terrible predator. As soon as the old teeth begin to wear out, new ones appear in their place. Interestingly, it is the teeth that can distinguish an alligator from a crocodile. If the mouth of an alligator is closed, its teeth are not visible, while in a crocodile, even with a closed mouth, fangs located on the lower jaw are clearly visible.
photo: Rickard Sjoden Despite the fact that this dolphin is quite peaceful, it is the owner of a huge number of teeth - 200-210, which makes it the champion among all representatives of toothed whales. If we compare an ordinary dolphin and a bottlenose dolphin, then the second one has only 100 teeth.
4. Indian leech
This leech is considered the most toothy among all representatives of the annelids, to which it belongs. The Indian leech has as many as three jaws, each of which has from 70 to 100 teeth. Thus, the total number of teeth in a leech is 350.
photo: Tony Brown This type of shark is very rare, and so far scientists have not met a single old individual. This dangerous predator has from 2 to 3 thousand very sharp teeth in its mouth. All teeth are arranged in several rows, but only the first two rows of teeth are active, the rest are considered spare. Throughout their lives, these sharks grow teeth, so new ones “come” in place of fallen teeth or already demolished ones. Interestingly, the gray shark can even eat crustaceans and bony fish, as its teeth are covered with special enamel.
2. Snails from the class of gastropods
photo: martin These small and slow creatures rank second among the most toothy animals. There are 135 rows in the tongue of snails, each of which has 100-105 teeth. Thus, the total number of teeth is equal to 14 thousand. Though small, but what a toothy monster.
1 Big Roadside Slug
photo: Karl-Ludwig G. Poggemann And here is the record holder for the number of teeth. The slug lives only on land, and its diet does not include flesh. The tongue of this baby has about 30,000 teeth. The teeth are needed by the gastropod mollusk in order to eat berries, fruits and leaves, in which the slug makes huge holes.
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Ecology
The animal world may seem full of all sorts of horrors, although, of course, many of the terrible creatures may be quite far from us, or, fortunately, we may not even be aware of their existence. But the most curious are invited to find out which animals’ mouths are scary to look into because of their menacing teeth. With all this, these animals can look very harmless until ... they open their jaws.
1) "Alien Teeth" hagfish
The voracity of these creatures is legendary. Animals often eat fish caught in the net, therefore, thereby doing a lot of harm to the fishing industry. Looking like a huge worm, hagfish has an impressive jaw with an interesting arrangement of sharp teeth lined up in several rows.
Ironically, despite having such a menacing jaw, a hagfish doesn't have to use one to stay satiated. She knows how to "eat" the skin, no matter how strange it sounds. Mixina swims in rotten water next to the decaying corpses of living beings, absorbing their wonderful corpse juices through the skin pores.
2) Leatherback turtle teeth
Leatherback turtles are fairly large reptiles that are actually the largest turtles on the planet. Unlike many other harmless species of grass-nibbling turtles, these monsters have a very terrifying jaw, which they need to feed on mollusks, crustaceans and young fish.
In the mouth of these turtles there is a whole bunch of teeth, similar to stalactites in a cave, which grow from completely different sides of the jaws and even in the throat. Leatherback turtles are also not averse to eating jellyfish, although due to the fact that jellyfish have virtually no nutrients, poor predators have to eat up to 73 percent of their own body weight daily.
Due to the fact that turtles can hardly distinguish between plastic bags floating in the water and jellyfish, their numbers are significantly reduced due to debris in the oceans.
3) Vampire Fangs of Vampire Fish
You have long heard about piranhas - small round fish with sharp teeth that devour almost everything in their path. But have you ever thought about who can eat the piranhas themselves? Meet: this is the Mackerel hydrolic, which is called the "vampire fish".
To survive in a river like the Amazon, you need to stock up on effective weapons, in particular the sharp fangs that the hydrolic has. In the mouth of this fish are different in size, but very sharp teeth, some of which reach a length of up to 15 centimeters.
It is interesting that mackerel hydrolics are closely related to piranhas, but this does not prevent predators from hunting the poor relatives of piranhas most often. Despite the fact that hydrolics have not been observed attacking people, it is still advised to stay away from the waters in which they live.
4) Voracious Glowing Shark Saw Teeth
Imagine that you are in the dark salty depths of the sea, where you accidentally strayed from a group of divers, and there is nothing around but hopeless darkness and dead silence. It is in such conditions that deep-sea luminous sharks live, which appear only after sunset and swim in pitch darkness in search of prey. These fish reach only 5 centimeters in length, but they have the largest teeth relative to body size.
Due to the fact that luminous sharks cannot boast of large body sizes, they have learned to attack large fish and animals, biting off pieces of meat from them and immediately disappearing. English name of this shark "cookie cutter" translates as "cookie mold", which is quite understandable, knowing about the vile habits of this predator. The victims of sharks - whales, large fish, dolphins - do not die, but only remain with wounds that gradually heal, leaving scars. Cases of attacks on humans have also been recorded.
5) Amazing Penguin Teeth
You might be wondering what is so frightening about penguins? If they caused harm, they would hardly become one of the most beloved children's cartoon characters. However, if you look into the mouth of a penguin, you can see something very dangerous and threatening there - sharp teeth.
There are teeth on all sides inside the penguin's mouth, including the lower and upper jaw of the beak and even the tongue. Since penguins prefer to swallow their prey whole, they must somehow grab and hold it, and this is where the ubiquitous teeth help. The spiny mouth and tongue work like a conveyor belt that moves food in one direction.
6) Woodpecker tongue-dart
Everyone knows about the ability of a woodpecker to hammer tree trunks with great speed, but few know about the amazing properties of its language. This tongue is almost three times longer than the beak itself, and also has an amazing hook at the end, which allows birds to get treats for themselves.
One can only guess how such a long tongue can fit in a bird's mouth. It turns out that when the tongue is not needed, the woodpecker wraps it around the back of the skull, it passes near the eyes, and its end reaches the very nostrils. Amazing trick!
7) Pacu Fish Human Teeth
We return to the Amazon River again, and this time to get acquainted with another interesting jaw, namely, the jaw belonging to the pacu fish. Outwardly, this fish is not much different from other standard fish with scales and fins, but if you look into the mouth of this fish, you will be very surprised: the pacu fish has human teeth!
Why did nature need to copy itself? Perhaps this is due to the fact that human-like teeth are excellent at chewing almost any food, including seeds and nuts, which is not characteristic of fish at all.
Saber-toothed tigers will never cease to occupy our imagination. They are an (albeit extinct) example of how fearsome teeth can be, but as we shall see, the danger of extreme teeth is by no means a relic of the past. In this list, we look at the most dangerous, strange and shocking teeth that everyone who sees them wants to avoid encountering:
10. Babirussa (Babirusa)
There are animals that are so strange and scary that we start to wonder how evolution managed to create such creatures. Four species of babiruss possess extremely strange weapons with which they carry out acts of aggression.
Endemic to Indonesia, these "Deer-Pigs" not only have massive lower canine teeth that curl like fangs into the upper jaw, but also have upper canine teeth that also curve backwards, paired with the lower canine teeth, and point upwards and backwards towards head. Males cut each other with their fangs during territorial disputes during the mating season. The upward pointing of the fangs allows them to be effective in combat, but if the babirussa fails to cut them down, they can sprout into the animal's skull with a fatal outcome.
9 Saber-Toothed Deer
Yes, you heard right - saber-toothed deer. The thought of such a being seems so strange and terrifying that one might be tempted to dismiss it as a fantasy. In fact, several species of ungulates known as "musk deer" and native to Eurasia have massive tusks that develop from canine outgrowths.
The fangs of musk deer extend several centimeters beyond their lower jaw. Unlike the infamous cats of the distant past, musk deer go into battle against other males with their sabers, thrusting them into each other during the mating season. These creatures are genetically distinct from true deer (deer) and were named for the strong scent they use to mark their territory.
8. Mackerel hydrolic (Payara)
Back in the days when the saber-toothed tiger roamed the earth, the fearsome mackerel-like hydrolic developed exactly the same weapon, only bent in the opposite direction, for its dominance in the rivers. With a length of more than 1.2 meters, the mackerel hydrolic prowls the waters of the Amazon, plunging its 7-10 centimeter fangs into the vital organs of its prey.
At that moment, when the wounded prey begins to go to the bottom, the deep jaws of the mackerel hydrolic swallow it. Unlike most saber-toothed animals, the fangs of the mackerel hydrolic remain entirely in its mouth, hiding in two holes in the upper jaw. The gruesome appearance and potential danger of being bitten by the Characin Vampire will make even the most seasoned fisherman cringe.
7. Big Goosander (Toothed duck)
At first glance, the merganser looks like a typical waterfowl, but when feeding ducks on a pond, it's best not to reach out to a representative of this unusual species. The largest member of the merganser genus lives in rivers, estuaries, lakes and parks throughout Eurasia, Canada and the United States.
From its beak protrude more than one hundred and fifty razor-sharp teeth, curved back, which can plunge into the body of a fish like a hot knife through butter. A bird with teeth will always seem like an anomaly, but what's even more terrifying is that this "devil duck" with dinosaur teeth can easily gnaw through small mammals and even other birds as if it were some sort of aquatic predator.
6Dromedary Camel
The fact that an animal is a herbivore should never lead you to conclude that it poses no danger to you. Some herbivores have particularly strange fangs.
Take, for example, a familiar, and seemingly satiated one-humped camel. Although the species has long been used as a pack animal and eats plant foods, these thick lips hide impressive teeth that reach over 7.5 cm in length. Looking at such massive jaws and sharp teeth, it is easy to understand how sometimes the owners are killed in their sleep due to camel revenge. They can easily gnaw a human skull. Fatal bites, such as those recently reported in China, can occur during the mating season when the animals are defensive and territorial.
5 Helicoprion (Chainsaw Shark)
It is the only extinct animal on this list. Helicoprion was a shark that reached 6 meters in length, which used its huge teeth like no other animal on earth. Attached to the circular muscle of the mouth apparatus, the shark's teeth were thrown forward and shredded the victim into small pieces, like a chainsaw.
This shark's strange dentition was misinterpreted by scientists for years before the strange and frightening truth was finally revealed. The 5 cm long teeth were tightly packed in a downward spiral, ensuring that the prey was torn to pieces at high speed.
4. Narwhal
Scientists and researchers have given the "unicorn of the seas" a mythical status, but this was until the moment when the strange creature was discovered in reality and properly documented.
In a bizarre twist of physiology, this relatively small whale, 4 meters long, has grown a deadly "spear" on top of its head, which it uses during territorial conflicts and in self-defense. It is sometimes used to break ice in the whale's arctic habitat.
Deviating from the norm of symmetry in the animal kingdom, the narwhal's huge weapon is actually a variation of the right fang, which grows at an angle forward and passes through the forehead of the animal. In the jaws of strangely shaped narwhals, there are no other teeth, but in some cases, a second “tusk” can sprout from the left canine recess, sometimes equal in length to the first.
3. Baboon
Baboons are one of the largest monkeys on Earth, weighing over 36 kilograms. Although they are about half the size of most adult humans, the tusks of an average adult baboon often reach 5 centimeters in length, which is even longer than the tusks of most adult lions. Although these simian sabers appear to be capable of killing even the most intimidating prey, they are more often used in fights between rival males during the mating season, leading to the conclusion that it was sexual selection that led to the development of such huge fangs. But this is unlikely to help those who wandered into the territory of baboons during the mating season.
2. Hippo
The hippopotamus can reach over five meters in length and weigh an incredible 4,000 kilograms, making it the third heaviest land animal. The hippopotamus also has the largest fangs of any land animal. Its two sword-like fangs reach a whopping 40 centimeters in length.
In fact, we are dealing with a river monster, the size of a truck, which with its teeth can gnaw through two people in one bite. And we grew up thinking that it was the crocodiles that were our biggest enemies on the Nile ... In one famous case, the guide was partially swallowed by a hippopotamus, and his arm was lost forever. And in addition to the above, it is worth noting a fascinating fact: genetic studies have shown that these saber-toothed creatures are relatives of whales, and not pigs, as previously thought.
1. Blue-finned balisthod (Titan Triggerfish)
With a name like that, anything is possible - this is one of the fish that you definitely do not want to meet while scuba diving. Reaching a little over 60 centimeters in length, these tropical reef dwellers inhabit shallow waters. They are known for fiercely defending their territory against intruders, including explorers. The blue-finned balisthod's teeth, which are designed to cut through rock-hard coral, are strikingly sharp and strong, and incredibly human-like.
The teeth of the blue-finned balisthod are unusual in that they are straight but very thin. This makes them especially sharp, but they are also very strong and resistant to damage.
Thanks to the presence of teeth, animals get food for themselves, defend themselves from enemies and fight rivals. In some cases, due to their size, individuals take their positions in packs and become leaders. In some animals, teeth grow so large that they are referred to as tusks in the future. In this article, we will find out who has the largest teeth in the world.
Narwhal
The marine inhabitant of the Arctic Ocean and the waters of the North Atlantic is the owner of a long tusk. At first glance, you can decide that this is not a tusk but a horn, and it is for this reason that it is often called a sea unicorn. Narwhals are quite large marine animals and can reach 4 meters in length. The weight of the male reaches up to 1.5 tons, and the female - 900 kg. At birth, narwhals are small - only 1.5-2 meters.
The narwhal has only 2 teeth, but only one develops and reaches large sizes - the left one. It grows in a spiral shape and can reach incredible sizes - up to 3 meters in length and weighing up to 10 kg. Females do not have such pride, only in rare cases do they grow a tusk. The chance of meeting such a female is 1 in 500.
Narwhal tusks are quite flexible and can bend 30-35cm in any direction. Upon reaching a certain size, it stops growing, and in case of damage, the animal loses its pride once and for all. If the animal's tooth was broken off at the very base, then the dental canal overgrows and a so-called "bone filling" is formed.
During mating games, narwhals rub their tusks against each other.
For scientists, narwhals and their long tusks are still a bit of a mystery. They cannot unambiguously state for what purposes the animal uses its “horn”. Definitely it is not a tool for breaking ice or attack, but the fact that the tusk has a lot of nerve endings leads scientists to believe that it is used in mating games. Also, thanks to this, the animal can feel fluctuations in water temperature and pressure.
Among land animals, Indian elephants are the most important. This animal grows 2 tusks at once. As with narwhals, among elephants, only males grow tusks, while females do not have them, with rare exceptions. The dimensions of elephant tusks are quite impressive: their average length is 1.6 meters, and their weight is up to 25 kg. But sometimes there are champions among elephants. For example, a case was recorded when the tusk reached a size of 4 meters and a weight of almost 150 kg.
Elephant tusks are not just decoration, they skillfully wield them if necessary. An elephant, like a person, is left-handed or right-handed and uses either the right or left tusk more often. This can be determined by the wear of the bone and its more rounded end.
Elephant tusks grow an average of 17 cm per year
To grind food, the elephant also has 4 molars, which are replaced by new ones as they wear out. On average, this happens 6 times in a lifetime. New teeth begin their growth behind the existing ones and thereby move them forward, eventually replacing the worn ones. By the age of 40, this happens for the last time, and by the age of 70, the elephant is left without molars, which leads to exhaustion and death of the animal.
Walruses live in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and are in third place on our list. The pinniped mammal has huge fangs, which can be up to 1 meter long and weigh up to five and a half kilograms. Long teeth are a characteristic feature of this animal and are present in both males and females. The former have somewhat larger fangs, as they are used in fights between individuals. Each male strives to get the best place and the best female. Therefore, the thicker and longer the fangs, the more likely it is to take a dominant position in the herd.
Walruses are dangerous opponents: they can capsize a boat and smash it with their fangs
The tusks of walruses serve not only to determine hierarchical relationships and demonstrate the threat. With their help, mammals easily break through the ice, make holes in it, and also crawl out onto a slippery surface.
The tusks of walruses are strong and beautiful, so they often become a target for poachers, which in turn greatly reduces the population of the pinniped mammal.
Outwardly, musk deer are very similar to deer, but unlike them, they do not wear horns and have long fangs. With an average size of an animal weighing 11-18 kg and up to 70-80 cm high, they grow fangs 7-9 cm long. Like many representatives of the animal world, males are larger than females. They use fangs for tournament battles in the struggle for a place and possession of a female. During the duel, male musk deer often fight to the death. During the pursuit, they try to strike with their front legs on the ridge and thrust their sharp fangs. Long duels end with the fact that one of the opponents is knocked to the ground and killed by blows of hooves and fangs. Also, long teeth allow you to get food from hard-to-reach places.
Often musk deer live alone or huddle in a herd of no more than three animals.
The largest teeth in the usual representation of the word belong to long-extinct dinosaurs. Once these giants inhabited our planet.
Some representatives were of impressive size, which is confirmed during excavations by elements found by archaeologists.
For example, a Tyronosaurus tooth was found in South Dakota. Its dimensions amaze not only people, but also accustomed scientists. The length of the tooth from root to end is 33 cm. Officially, this is the largest tooth of extinct creatures that once inhabited our planet, found by scientists.
Another unique find occurred in Portugal. A dinosaur tooth measuring 12.7 cm was found, which once again confirmed that our planet was once inhabited by huge predatory lizards. And these are not isolated cases, a 10 cm tooth was also found in Spain.
According to scientists, the owner of this tooth, the Allosaurus, was of medium size among its relatives, which means that the found tooth is far from being the largest, and scientists are waiting for many more discoveries in this area.
The sharp and strong teeth of dinosaurs easily broke bones and tore flesh.
Among the inhabitants of the ocean, one can also give an example of a creature with the largest teeth that once lived on our planet - this is the megalodon shark. Its size is amazing and terrifying. It was about 20 meters long and weighed about 50 tons. The jaw span of the average representative of a sea monster, according to scientists, is 2 meters. The diet of megalodon included dolphins, sperm whales, giant tortoises and other inhabitants of the sea. In fact, it was one of the strongest marine predators that ever lived on the planet, and the fact that they could not adapt to changing climatic conditions is a big plus for the inhabitants of the seas and oceans.
The teeth of a megalodon are very similar to those of a great white shark, but much larger and stronger. The average size of a megalodon tooth is 18-20 cm on the diagonal side.
The bite force of a megalodon is 10 times greater than that of a great white shark.
Human
Among people, it is difficult to find the owner of the largest teeth. In the human race, over a long period of time, teeth grow to a standard size and reach approximately 1 cm in length. But in the modern world, there are representatives who want to stand out from the crowd and artificially increase their teeth, mainly the upper and lower fangs. Some use cat fangs as an example, some want to look like vampires or orcs from popular films. Nevertheless, the spectacle is really impressive, but not always pleasant.
A person through surgical interventions can completely change the structure of his jaw
The possession of large teeth in the animal world often allows you to increase your hierarchical status or get food, and with their help, individuals protect themselves from enemy attacks. But not always their size helps their owners to survive. Extinct dinosaurs and the megalodon shark are examples of this.
