Animals With Human Teeth (11 Amazing Species With Pics)

As humans, our teeth are made to break down the meat and plants we eat as omnivores.

For animals, their teeth are also based on what they eat, but the different diets of herbivores and carnivores cause their teeth to be different from ours.

And in this post, let’s take a look at some animals with human teeth that you might not know about.

List of 11 Animals With Human Teeth

Sheepshead Fish

Teeth number: 32 teeth.

Heterodont: Yes

The sheepshead, also called the convict fish, is a marine fish with human-like front teeth found in North American marine, Massachusetts, Florida.

These fishes have human-like teeth.

They have 32 teeth, prominent incisors at the front jaw, three rows of molars in the upper jaw, and two rows of molars in the lower jaw.

Combination of these kinds of sharp and strong tooth aid in breaking the shells of captured prey such as barnacles, clams, fiddler crabs, crustaceans, and oysters.

Giraffes

Teeth Number: 32 (Same as human: In numbers only)

Heterodont: Yes.

This animals with patterns is the tallest currently known herbivorous terrestrial mammal in the world and is found in Africa, and other countries as well, where they inhabited savannahs, and woodlands.

Upon comparing, humans and giraffes, both possess 32 teeth, but giraffes’ teeth are located in their lower jaw only.

However, Its teeth are located in the back of its mouth which along with a long tongue and upper jaw a palate grinds the foods such as acacia leaves and other plant derivatives.

Horse

Teeth Number: 36-44 teeth.

Heterodont: Yes.

The horse is a strong one-toed mammal that evolved to run and is able to sleep while standing and lying on the land.

These animals come in different varieties, heights, and colors. Horses usually have 36-44 teeth that are distributed in both upper and lower jaws.

They are heterodonts, which means they have different shaped teeth for different needs.

It has 12 incisors(6 in upper and 6 in lower jaws), 24 teeth (12 premolars and 12 molars), and other wolf teeth and tush teeth.

Its teeth continuously grow that can be used to find horse age as it slows down growth and the angle of lower and upper jaw incisor teeth changes with aging.

Dog

Teeth Number: 42 teeth

Heterodonts: Yes (Different shaped teeth)

The domestic dog such as Bull Terriers is a friendly and obedient animal that cause no harm to human. It is a direct descendent of the gray wolf.

Similar to humans, dogs also have diphyodont teeth and incisors, canine teeth premolar, and molars that all vary by number.

Adult dogs have 42 teeth. Among these 42 teeth, It is easily understood by its dental formula 3.1.4.2/3.1.4.3 (upper/lower jaw).

Interestingly, Its 42 teeth are unequally distributed, 20 in the upper jaw, and 22 in the lower jaw.

Are dogs’ teeth the same as humans?

No, humans and dogs have different numbers of teeth (Human: 32, Dog: 42).

However, Humans and dogs are the same as they both are diphyodont.

Occurrence of two sets of teeth in a lifetime, First milk or deciduous teeth and second adult or permanent teeth.

Pig

Teeth Number: 44 teeth

Heterodonts: Yes (Different shaped teeth)

A pig is an omnivorous mammal found across the world and inhabits forests, villages, semi-urban cities, also in farms for meat production.

Both humans and pigs are Heterodonts, that is they have different shapes of teeth to perform different functions but don’t have the same number of teeth as compared to humans.

Adult pigs have a total of 44 teeth that are evenly distributed into both upper and lower jaws.

12 incisors, 4 canines that can be grown to form tusks, 16 premolars, 12 molars situated back of their mouth. Thus the dental formula of adult pigs is 3.1.4.3/3.1.4.3 (Upper/Lower Jaw).

Pig babies are called Piglets, Have ‘needle teeth’ as deciduous third incisor and canine teeth.

These teeth are removed as they are usually found to hurt themselves and other piglets and sows.

Pacu Fish

Pacu is a freshwater fish found in South America, Brazil, and Amazon. Pacus are related to carnivorous fish called Piranha.

Pacu has teeth that resemble human teeth as its teeth are squarer, straighter teeth meant for crushing nuts, invertebrates, and fruits.

However, they attacked the testicles of swimmers since they had mistaken the balls as nuts. This act gave them the name ‘ball-cutter’.

Pacus are legal to keep in the aquarium as pets in the US but the problem is they can grow as long as 4 feet and that frightens us as they are going to have big teeth too. Make sure your children and pets stay away from them.

Cow

Teeth Number: 32 teeth

Heterodonts: Yes (Different shaped teeth)

The cow is a herbivorous mammal that can be a great pet.

Humans and cows are Diphyodont and Heterodonts that are the same in number but differ only in shapes and types.

An adult cow has 32 teeth called permanent or adult teeth. They are incisors, premolars, and molars, the combination of premolars, and molars are known as cheek teeth.

A baby cow has 20 teeth called temporary teeth, deciduous, milk, or simply baby teeth.

Surprisingly, cows can’t bite you because they lack front teeth or incisors in the upper jaw.

Are cows’ teeth similar to humans? No, because cows don’t have incisors in their upper jaw while humans have incisors in their upper jaw.

However, Both cows and Humans have a number of teeth-32 teeth, and both have diphyodont, which is an occurrence of two sets of teeth in their lifespan, milk teeth, and adult teeth. They have Heterodonts as well.

Gorilla

Teeth Number: 32 teeth.

Heterodonts: Yes (Different shaped teeth)

Comparatively, humans and gorillas have the same number of teeth, 32 teeth, But stronger teeth belong to Gorillas as part of their coarse vegetation diet.

Among 32 teeth, 8 incisors, 4 canine, 8 premolars, and 12 molars, that makes Its dental formula as 2,1,2,3/2,1,2,3(Upper/Lower jaw)× 2 = 32.

Thus both Gorillas and Humans have heterodont, and diphyodont conditions, where two sets of teeth occur in their lifetime.

All of these teeth are stronger and usually larger than a human’s corresponding teeth.

For example, Its canine is longer, about 2 inches, and sharper than humans, and used to defend against other male gorillas, build dominance, and scare off predators.

Moose

Teeth number: 32 teeth

Heterodonts: Yes (Different shaped teeth)

The moose, also known as elk, wapiti, is a browsing herbivorous mammal related to the deer family found in the United States, Washington, and Canada. They are not dangerous and very gentle most of the time.

Like humans, Moose has a similar number of 32 teeth and heterodont condition. Among 32 teeth, 6 incisors, 2 canines, 12 premolars, and 12 are ridged molars. While they lack teeth in their upper jaw.

Chimpanzee

Teeth number: 32 teeth

Heterodonts: Yes (Different shaped teeth)

The chimpanzee, also known as simply chimp, is the common chimpanzee in the wild that don’t make good pets.

The robust chimpanzee is an intelligent species belonging to the great ape and is found in Africa.

Humans and other apes have almost the same teeth.

Similarly, chimps have the same dental formula and same diphyodont, and heterodont conditions as well.

Thus its dental formula of 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3 (Upper/Lower jaw) results in about 32 teeth.

Bonobo

Teeth Number: 32 teeth

Heterodonts: Yes (Different shaped teeth)

The bonobo is a bipedal ape that belongs to the Hominidae family found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other places such as the zoo.

Humans along with bonobos have 32 teeth, among 32 teeth, there are 8 incisors, 4 canine, 8 premolars, and 12 molars, giving you a bonobo dental formula 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3(Upper/Lower Jaw)

Read more: Bird With Red Eyes (19 Amazing Red-Eyed Birds)

Animals With The Similar Number Of Teeth To Humans

Giraffes, Sheepshead, Cow, Moose, Gorilla, and Bonobo, all these animals have 32 teeth like Humans.

Even though they have the same number of teeth they are not similar in function, location, or shape.

For example, Giraffes have 32 the same number of teeth as humans but all 32 teeth are present only in the lower jaw. There are no teeth present in their upper jaws.

Cows have 32 teeth like Humans, but they don’t have incisors in their upper jaws while humans have incisors in their upper jaws.

Sheepshead has 32 teeth, like humans, but it has 3 rows of teeth in its upper jaws, while humans have 2 rows of teeth.

Moose have 32 teeth as humans do, but they lack teeth in their upper jaw, whereas Humans have teeth in both the upper and lower jaws.

FAQ’s

What animal has 25000 teeth?

Snails: Even though their mouths are no larger than the head of a pin, they can have over 25,000 teeth over a lifetime – which are located on the tongue and continually lost and replaced like a shark!

Why are hippo teeth so weird?

The teeth of a hippo are different as some teeth are there to defend themselves while the molars and premolars are similar to those in humans and used for eating.

The sharp incisor teeth and the canines are used to protect themselves from predators while the rest of the teeth are used to chew food.

Once the molars of a hippo wear off, the hippo dies. It is quite symbolic and weird.

Is there a fish with human teeth?

Meet the sheepshead fish, a common Atlantic coast swimmer with a very crunchy diet.

Last week (Aug 3), anglers at Jennette’s Pier in North Carolina pulled up something unexpected — and uncanny — from the Atlantic: a fish with human teeth.

Yes, this fish — and its teeth — are real.

Why don’t giraffes have top teeth?

Unlike other mammals, giraffes do not eat their food using their front teeth.

Instead, they grab leaves and twigs using their lips, slide them down their mouth using their extremely long tongues, and then disgorge the food and use their back teeth to chew the food before swallowing.

Giraffes don’t have any upper front teeth, which may sound odd, but is actually not a huge deal for giraffes because they don’t use them anyway.

Wrap-Up

Another difference between our teeth and animals’ is that, unlike most animals, we monitor our oral health and practice certain habits to ensure our mouths stay clean.