Section 4 What Animal’s Eat For Use with the KS2 Science Curriculum Topic 3A Adapted by Oral Health Promotion, Devon 2014

Human teeth

The four types of teeth 1. Incisor ( Cutting ) 3. Premolar 2. Canine ( Piercing ) 3. Premolar ( Crushing ) 4. Molar ( Grinding )

Incisor Used for cutting.

Canine The Roman’s called their dogs canines. Why is this a good name for this tooth ?

Premolar Pre-Molar means in front of the molars. Its job is to crush things. Especially nuts. Just like this nutcracker.

Molar Molar is the Latin name for this grinding bowl. This is what the molar does. It grinds our food before we swallow it.

Human teeth That’s the human mouth. Let us see how animal’s teeth can differ from ours.

Carnivore Carnivores have special chewing teeth called carnassial teeth. They act like knives, and are used for slicing meat.

Carnivores Can you think of any animals which are carnivores ?

The dog Alsatians are famous for their big teeth. Which makes them very useful as police and guard dogs.

Big cats The leopard uses it’s long canines to hang onto it’s prey when hunting.

The cat Even your family cat has sharp teeth like his wild relatives. Though he preys on smaller game.

The shark Shark’s teeth are unlike any other carnivore. They are not really teeth at all. The shark has special teeth evolved from skin scales. They are shed continually throughout its life and are very sharp.

Herbivore Herbivores specialise in eating plants. They have a gap between their cutting teeth and the chewing teeth. This is called the diastema. Food rests here before being pushed back onto the chewing teeth.

Herbivore Can you think of any animals which are herbivores ?

The horse Horses eat grass and have large blade like incisors to crop the grass before chewing.

The sheep Sheep also eat grass. You can see the gap between the incisors and the chewing teeth on the sheep’s skull.

The elephant Elephants have very long modified canines called tusks. These are used for defence. Their other teeth are specialized for eating grass just like other herbivores. Though these are also very large due to the animals size and the huge amount of food it eats.

The giraffe Giraffes have no front teeth at all. They use their lips to pull down leaves and shoots. Then they push the food back onto the molars with their tongues.

The rabbit The rabbit has two large incisors that are used for gnawing. It is a specialized type of herbivore.

Omnivore Omnivores eat both animals and plants. Their teeth are not specialized, and their diets can include a wide range of different foods.

Omnivores Can you think of any more animals which are omnivores ?

The bear Bears will eat absolutely anything. Nuts, berries, roots, and small animals. Their favourite food is salmon caught right out of the river.

The chicken While chickens eat primarily grain and seeds, they will also eat insects and earthworms if they can. So free range chickens have a more varied diet.

Humans Humans can eat a very wide variety of foods. Meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, milk, cheese, bread, eggs, etc.

Questions What kinds of animals have carnassial teeth ? How are horses teeth adapted for their diet of grass ? Name three omnivores ? Why does a squirrel have long teeth ?

With thanks to Graeme Jones, Liverpool Dental Health Promotion