Carnassial

Also known as carnassial tooth, carnassial teeth, shearing tooth, shearing teeth

thumb|Carnassials of a dog

Wikidata facts

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Article

5 sections

Contents

Taxonomy
Carnassial dentition
Evolution of carnassial teeth
Disease
References

thumb|Carnassials of a dog

Carnassials are paired upper and lower teeth modified in such a way as to allow enlarged and often self-sharpening edges to pass by each other in a shearing manner. This adaptation is found in carnivorans, where the carnassials are the modified fourth upper premolar and the first lower molar. These teeth are also referred to as sectorial teeth.