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 )

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