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Carnassial

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Deathbunny (talk | contribs) at 05:33, 20 January 2011 (Not really a teeth person, but it's an interesting old ref someone might be able to run with...). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Carnassials of an Italian wolf

Carnassials are large teeth found in many carnivorous mammals, used for shearing flesh and bone in a scissor or shear-like way. In the Carnivora, the carnassials are the modified last upper premolar and the first lower molar, but in the prehistoric creodonts, the carnassials were further back in the jaw–first upper and second lower or second upper and third lower molars. These teeth are also referred to as sectorial teeth.[1]

Wear and cracking of the carnassial teeth in a wild carnivore (e.g. wolves, lions) may result in the death of the individual due to starvation.

References

  1. ^ Henry Fairfield Osborn (1907). Evolution of mammalian molar teeth. Macmillan. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
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