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Identifying Animal Skulls By Their Teeth

Skull Identification Made Easy

Teeth Tell the Tale

By examining the teeth or the remaining teeth in a skull, you can determine whether the animal was an herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, or insectivore. Teeth can be specifically identified using anatomical nomenclature by their set (deciduous or permanent), side (left or right arch), and location (maxillary or mandibular). Mammalian teeth can grind, stab, scissor, dig, chisel, sieve, and lift. Elephants' tusks are modified incisors, and male narwhals have a single, modified tooth that they use for fighting and display. Teeth are common to most vertebrates, but mammalian teeth are distinctive in having a variety of shapes and functions. This feature first arose among early mammalian ancestors and has been a key factor in their evolutionary success.