Sharks have teeth in their mouths. Huge teeth, teeth like grains of rice, teeth pointed like knives, teeth like bones, all kinds of things. Secret sharks, on the other hand, have densely packed small scales on their skin. This small fish scale and big tooth may seem like different things at first glance, but in fact, these two are originally the same. That is, shark teeth are enlarged by small scales around the mouth.
Great white shark
Big teeth, small teeth
The largest of the sharks today is the great white shark. On the upper and lower jaws of the giant body with a total length of about 5 meters, large teeth about 6 cm high and 4.5 cm wide grow. The whale shark, on the other hand, is the largest of the sharks, and its teeth are the smallest of the sharks, making it almost impossible to see every single one.
Great white shark teeth
The shape of the feed varies according to the preference
Obviously they are all sharks, why are the shapes and sizes of teeth different? That's because the feed is eaten differently. Great white sharks attack sharp seals and whales, cutting their flesh with their sharp teeth and eating them. However, even brutal great white sharks cannot eat plankton eaten by whale sharks.
Teeth of a whale shark
Shark teeth before and now?
The bones of ancient sharks and today's sharks were not the same size and position, and the shape of teeth was different.
Ancient shark teeth
A long time ago, sharks had simple tooth shapes. First of all, the role of this tooth is only to catch prey. Therefore, the size of the food they eat can be put into their mouths, and large prey will be torn off and eaten.
Modern sharks eat whales, from miniature to giant. After constant correction, shark teeth have changed into various shapes to adapt to the size and habits of prey. Moreover, the upper and lower jaws play different roles, and sharks with different shapes of upper and lower teeth have appeared. As it grows, the favorite prey will also change, the shape of the teeth will also change, and the teeth of males and females will be different.
Whale
Unused teeth
The purpose of teeth is to catch prey and eat it, but sharks that feed on plankton such as whale sharks do not use teeth. The food is small and does not need to be bitten off.
Pressed, pricked, cut teeth
The teeth of carnivorous sharks are very well developed. There are roughly three ways to use teeth. The first is to "grab the teeth". Like the teeth of ancient sharks, tiger sharks and labka sharks have round teeth. Grab your prey and swallow it. The second is "pricking teeth". Nails and knife-like teeth. Blue sharks and three-toothed sharks with teeth will stab their prey to death, and large prey will tear off and eat. The third is "cutting teeth". The edge teeth are thin and flattened, and the edges are as sharp as a razor. There are also those with typical serrations. Typical are great white sharks and great eye sharks with upper jaw teeth, even hard bones can be simply cut off.
Tiger shark
Sharks that feed on plankton
There are three species of sharks that feed on plankton as a staple food. That being said, if you only eat a whole plankton, it's troublesome. So they learned how to eat plankton with water without using teeth.
Whale sharks inhale plankton with their small mouths like straws.
Basking sharks are characterized by large mouths and gill holes. Basking sharks swim in plankton with their mouths open. As a result, plankton flows naturally into the mouth, and only water flows out of the gill holes.
The skin of a white shark stretches like a filament. It follows that it opens its mouth wide and holds plankton in its mouth until its throat expands like an inflatable balloon and eats it.
zoophagous
shark
For carnivorous sharks, the "cutting teeth" are particularly developed. Here, we focus on "cutting teeth" to understand the dietary etiquette of carnivorous sharks.
Waving, twisting
Eyed sharks have "cuttable teeth" in the upper jaw, and horned sharks have "cuttable teeth" in the lower jaw. The same is incisors, because there is a difference between the top and the bottom, so the method of use is different. Whale sharks violently shake their heads from side to side as soon as they eat their prey. The body of the prey is devoured by the centrifugal force of the "cut teeth" of the upper jaw, and the flesh and bones are cut apart.
Because squalid sharks have "cuttable teeth" in their jaws, it is useless to wave their heads. Dharma sharks have upper and lower teeth, and after biting, the body turns the teeth of the lower jaw. The slices of meat are then cut off like scooping ice cream with a spoon.
Embroidered eye shark
60,000 teeth in a lifetime
There are 52 teeth that can be used in a lifetime, including baby teeth and long teeth. Brush your teeth every day and use them well. However, shark teeth are disposable. Throw away after use and get new teeth every 2-10 days. The number of teeth used by basking sharks in their lifetime was calculated. If you replace one a week, there are about 60 rows of teeth in the entire jaw, so 60 teeth a week, 3,120 teeth in a year, and if the shark lives to be 20 years old, then it has to replace 62,400 teeth.
Transported by escalator
The tooth manufacturing plant is located on the inside of the jaw, and new teeth are constantly being manufactured and placed on the escalator of the gum stem. The escalator will slowly move outward, and the teeth used will fall out as the escalator is pushed outside. Then, it's the turn of the next tooth.
It is because of this disposable dental system that sharks have developed.