Herbivore Dinosaurs Never Ran Out of Teeth

By - Kidtastic Pediatric Dental & Orthodontics

You may have heard about how sharks have rows of teeth which get replaced often–unlike us humans with just baby teeth and adult teeth. Paleontologists recently discovered that herbivores never ran out of teeth, just like sharks! Some of these large plant-eating animals had up to five rows of replacement teeth ready to go. Depositphotos_5122268_s
Predatory dinosaurs like the T-Rex, shed their teeth too but only once every two or three years; not nearly as much as herbivores. Scientists claim that the frequent tooth regeneration helped them survive as long as they did. These plant eaters were eating constantly in order to get enough energy and nutrients from plants that just one set of teeth would cause too much wear and tear.
The bones of the Camarasaurus and Diplodocus were studied at the Museum, and took paleontologists months and months to carefully examine the teeth. The skulls of the two herbivores had 200 teeth or more in every case. They cut one of the teeth in half to learn about how old they were, and what they found was similar to the way trees have rings.
As the dinosaur got older a new row of teeth would come in, about one a month, depending on which species. Even though these massive plant-eaters were some of the largest in the land, they actually had small heads, with tiny teeth. The average size tooth of a Diplodocus is about the size of a number two pencil broken into thirds. They’re so small and worn down that they probably don’t even look like fossils!
Some herbivores like the 100-foot-long Sauropods didn’t even chew, but snipped it into small pieces before swallowing, which required razor-sharp teeth to do so. It was really important for those creatures to constantly regenerate new sharp teeth almost monthly. Do you wish you could grow new teeth?

Related Articles

By Kidtastic Pediatric Dental & Orthodontics
By Kidtastic Pediatric Dental & Orthodontics
By Kidtastic Pediatric Dental & Orthodontics

New Patients & Emergency Appointments Welcome