Diversity in Dentition

1. Diversity in Dentition By Victoria Cambridge 12TAR

2. Cow Teeth Cows have different teeth to humans and dogs as they grind their food rather then chewing as generally they are herbivores. The teeth are designed for grazing and chewing cud. On the front at the top cows have a tough pad of skin rather then teeth. They have six strong, broad and ridged molars on the top and bottom of both sides which helps them to grind their food and chew cud. They have 32 teeth in total. A sheep's teeth has many similarities as both are herbivores. http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/teethandeating/discovermore/gallery/sheep.asp

3. Dog Teeth Dogs are carnivores and so have large sharp canine teeth which help it to catch and kill its prey. The dogs cheek teeth are sharp carnassials which are perfect for biting off large chunks of meat. As they do not chew their food they do not have any teeth specialized for chewing. http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pregastric/dogpage.html

4. Human Teeth Humans are omnivores which means our diet consists of both plants and meat. Our canine teeth are smaller then that of carnivorous animals, such as cats or dogs, but because we do not hunt like animals we do not need teeth for ripping meat or holding our prey. Our molar and premolars are less efficient then those of herbivores, such as horses or cows, but as we do not need to eat as tough plant materials as they do we do not require them to be more efficient. http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pregastric/humanpage.html

5. Cow Jaw Muscles Herbivores have extremely well developed massester muscles, which provide powerful jaw closure and chewing movements including side to side, forward and back movements. This helps them to break their food down into a pulp as plants have a higher fibre content and are tougher for them to break down. They also have well developed pterygoid muscles which produces the sideways jaw movements that cows use to chew grass and also to chew cud. Herbivore Jaw Muscles http://www.parks.sa.gov.au/naracoorte/wonambi/reconstructing/muscles/005774

6. Dog Jaw Muscles Carnivorous creatures have well developed temporalis muscles because that is the muscle that helps to force the canine teeth into its prey. Dogs need to be able to hold onto its prey and also kill it quickly, often by snapping its neck. The temporalis muscle provides fast and powerful jaw closure (up and down). Also as dogs, before they were domesticated, diet consisted of hunting animals such as deer, rabbits, etc, they need to be able to tear flesh and having a strong grip allows this. Carnivore Jaw Muscles http://www.parks.sa.gov.au/naracoorte/wonambi/reconstructing/muscles/005774

7. Human Jaw Muscles The main jaw muscles for a human are the masseter and the pterygoids. They provides us with a wide variety of jaw movements, up, down and sideways. This is because we eat both meat and plants so we need to be able to perform different jaw movements to be able to chew both types of food. Our temporalis muscles are not very strong because we do not need to be able to grab a hold of our prey with our mouths and do not need to be able to rip flesh. http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Health-and-Beauty/Human-Body/Muscle-System/Muscle-System-33.html and http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Health-and-Beauty/Human-Body/Muscle-System/Muscle-System-21.html

8. Cow Discussion Cows are herbivores which means they eat a lot of plants that are high in fibre content. In order to enable them to chew their food they have six flat, ridged molars which allow them to grind the plants into a fibrous pulp. They have well developed massester muscles which provide the cow with powerful jaw closure and a variety of jaw movements used for chewing, including the side to side, forward and back movements. This helps them to chew their food and break it down into a pulp, with the help of the molars. It is very important for cows to have a way to chew the plants as they are high in fibre and tough to break down. Another feature that the cow has is well developed pterygoid muscles which are the muscles which produce the sideways movement of the jaw that cows use to chew clumps of grass and also to chew cud. http://geckokid.deviantart.com/art/Holy-Cow-58238277

9. Dog Discussion Dogs are carnivorous. They have developed large pointed canine teeth to help to capture, hold and kill its prey and they have also developed sharp carnassials for biting or ripping off large chunks of meat. Dogs do not necessarily chew their food and so do not have any teeth specialized for chewing, unlike the cow. Dogs have well developed temportalis muscles which provide powerful and fast jaw closure which allow them to force the canine teeth into it’s preys hide, to hold onto and kill their prey quickly. As dogs, before becoming domesticated, hunted and had a diet consisting of animals such as deer and rabbits they need to have a strong grip to enable them to be able to tear flesh and quickly get a hold of prey.

10. Human Discussion Humans are omnivores, consuming both plants and meat. Our canine teeth are small then those of dogs because we do not hunt like they do and so they are suitable for ripping off sections of food but not biting or holding prey. Our molar teeth are less efficient then those of a cow because we do not only eat plants and are able to digest plants more easily as we take small bites. Humans main jaw muscles are the masseter and pterygoids. These provide us with most of our jaw movements, because we eat both meat and plant we need to be able to perform the different type of jaw movements used to chew both. Our temporalis muscles are not very strong or developed as we do not need to be able to grab ahold of our prey quickly and do not need to be able to rip flesh with our strong grip. http://furtivelungs.deviantart.com/art/The-Spring-Is-Peeking-81939093