Animal dental

Quiz: Animal Dental Facts

August 29, 2017

Think you know your animals well? Take this fun animal dental quiz and see how much you know. Answer either TRUE or FALSE and see how well you score out of 10.

 

  1. Dogs and cats are born with baby teeth that eventually fall out.

This is TRUE. As dogs grow older, they will have 42 permanent teeth while cats will have 30.

 

  1. Pigs can have 15,000 taste buds.

This is TRUE. And just to give you an idea, humans only have about 9,000. Fun fact: pigs have 44 teeth.

 

  1. The armadillo has 104 teeth.

This is TRUE. Even though their diet consists of small insects and grubs, they do have many teeth. But their peg-like teeth have no enamel, so they aren’t very useful.

 

  1. Snails have more teeth than any animal.

This is TRUE. A snail’s mouth is no larger than the head of a pin, but can have over 25,000 teeth (but these aren’t like regular teeth, they are on its tongue).

 

  1. Dolphins chew food with their teeth.

This is FALSE. Dolphins don’t chew because they don’t have jaw muscles and swallow food whole. And another fun fact: if we aren’t counting snails, dolphins have more teeth than any other animal, some with over 200 teeth.

 

  1. Giraffes have the same number as teeth as humans.

This is TRUE. Giraffes have 32 teeth, like you and I, even though they are found mostly in the back of the mouth. They don’t have upper front teeth. So next time you are at the zoo, notice the way they use their lips to grab food and move it to the back of their mouth.

 

  1. A crocodile replaces its teeth over 40 times in a lifetime.

This is true, their teeth are continuously replaced throughout their lifetime. This can happen more than 40 times depending on their lifespan.

 

  1. An elephant’s tooth can weigh over 15 pounds.

This is FALSE. But, an elephant’s tooth can weigh over a whopping 6 pounds so that’s still pretty impressive.

 

  1. Horses, cows, sheep, camels and goats are all herbivores.

This is TRUE. As plant eaters, they all have wide, flat teeth as opposed to the defined canine teeth that carnivores possess.

 

  1. A mosquito has teeth.

This is kind of TRUE, kind of FALSE. They actually have 47 sharp edges on its tip to help cut through skin. Although they aren’t really teeth, they can easily cut through skin and clothing.