The Animal With the Most Teeth

When we think about teeth in the animal kingdom, we might imagine the intimidating fangs of a tiger or the razor-sharp teeth of a great white shark. However, the animal with the true dental superiority isn’t what most people would expect. The natural world is full of surprising adaptations, and dental structures are among the most fascinating. From predators with specialized killing tools to filter feeders with thousands of tiny teeth, nature has developed a remarkable variety of dental arrangements to match different ecological niches and feeding strategies. This article explores the extraordinary diversity of teeth in the animal kingdom, with a special focus on the creatures that boast the most impressive dental counts, culminating with the surprising champion that holds the world record.

The Purpose of Teeth in the Animal Kingdom

Teeth are specialized structures that evolved primarily for food processing, though they serve various secondary functions in different species. In the most basic sense, teeth help animals capture, hold, tear, crush, and grind their food. Carnivores typically have sharp, pointed teeth for seizing prey and tearing flesh. Herbivores often possess flat molars for grinding plant material. Omnivores display a combination of these tooth types to accommodate their varied diet. Beyond feeding, teeth may serve as weapons for defense, tools for grooming, instruments for building (such as beavers), or even as display features during mating rituals. The diversity of tooth structures across species reflects the incredible adaptability of animals to their ecological niches and the evolutionary pressures that have shaped them over millions of years.

How Scientists Count Animal Teeth

Counting teeth in animals presents unique challenges that vary by species. For larger vertebrates with relatively few teeth, such as mammals, direct counting is often possible through physical examination or radiographic imaging. However, for animals with hundreds or thousands of teeth, scientists employ more sophisticated techniques. These include microscopic examination, CT scanning, and histological sectioning, which allows researchers to visualize dental structures in three dimensions. For some species, such as sharks that continuously replace their teeth throughout life, scientists must distinguish between functional teeth and developing replacement teeth. Dental formulas—notations that record the number and arrangement of different tooth types—help standardize tooth counting across species. In animals with unusual dental structures, such as the radula in mollusks or pharyngeal teeth in some fish, specialized counting protocols must be developed to ensure accurate assessments. These methodical approaches have allowed researchers to document the extraordinary range of dental counts found throughout the animal kingdom.

Human Teeth: A Baseline for Comparison

Adult humans typically have 32 permanent teeth, providing a familiar reference point for comparing dental counts across species. Our dental formula includes 8 incisors (4 upper, 4 lower) for cutting food, 4 canines for tearing, 8 premolars for crushing, and 12 molars for grinding. This relatively modest number of teeth reflects our omnivorous diet and evolutionary history. Children have only 20 deciduous or “baby” teeth before the permanent set emerges. What makes human teeth remarkable isn’t their quantity but their versatility—our dental arrangement allows us to process an extraordinarily diverse diet, from tough plant materials to meat. This versatility, combined with our manual dexterity and cooking abilities, has played a crucial role in human evolution by expanding the range of foods we can consume. While our teeth count may seem unimpressive compared to some animals, the human dental arrangement represents a balanced adaptation that has served our species remarkably well.

Sharks: Renowned for Their Dental Arsenal

Sharks have earned their fearsome reputation partly due to their impressive dental arrangements. Unlike humans and most mammals, sharks possess multiple rows of teeth that operate on a continuous replacement system. When a front tooth is lost or worn down, a new one from the row behind moves forward to take its place—a conveyor belt of dental regeneration that ensures sharks always have sharp, functional teeth. The great white shark, for example, may have around 300 teeth arranged in several rows at any given time, though only the front 40-50 are functional for feeding. Over a lifetime, some shark species may produce and discard more than 30,000 teeth. Bull sharks boast about 350 teeth at once, while the filter-feeding whale shark has approximately 3,000 small teeth, though these play little role in their feeding strategy. Despite these impressive numbers, sharks still fall well short of the tooth-count record in the animal kingdom. Their dental notoriety stems more from the teeth’s effectiveness, specialized design, and continuous replacement system rather than sheer quantity.

Crocodilians: Powerful Jaws with Numerous Teeth

Crocodiles and alligators possess some of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom, delivered through an impressive array of teeth. The American alligator typically has between 74-80 teeth in its mouth at one time. Like sharks, crocodilians have a continuous replacement system, though theirs operates more slowly, with each tooth being replaced up to 50 times throughout their lifetime. Their teeth are conical and designed primarily for gripping rather than chewing, allowing these predators to seize prey before drowning and dismembering it with powerful death rolls. Interestingly, the force distribution across their dental array is remarkably specialized—front teeth are designed for gripping, while back teeth can exert tremendous pressure for crushing bones and turtle shells. Some extinct crocodilian relatives had even more specialized dental arrangements, with certain species evolving molar-like teeth for crushing shellfish. Despite their fearsome dental equipment, crocodilians fall far short of the tooth-count records held by certain fish and other marine creatures, demonstrating that tooth quantity isn’t always directly correlated with predatory effectiveness.

Snails: Surprising Dental Complexity

When thinking about animals with numerous teeth, garden snails rarely come to mind, yet these common mollusks possess a remarkable dental structure called a radula. This specialized feeding organ functions as a flexible ribbon containing thousands of microscopic teeth arranged in rows. The garden snail (Helix aspersa) typically has about 14,000 teeth on its radula—an astonishing number for such a small creature. The radula works like a rasp or conveyor belt, scraping food particles as it moves back and forth, with new teeth continuously developing at one end while worn teeth are shed at the other. Different snail species have radulae adapted to their dietary needs: herbivorous snails have broad teeth for rasping plant material, while predatory snails may have sharper, fewer teeth. Some cone snails have even evolved modified radular teeth into venomous harpoons for hunting fish. While snails possess an impressive number of teeth, their dental count still doesn’t place them at the top of the list. Nevertheless, their radular system represents one of nature’s most elegant solutions to the challenge of feeding without jaws or conventional teeth.

Sea Urchins: Hidden Dental Complexity

Sea urchins harbor one of the animal kingdom’s most remarkable feeding structures, known as “Aristotle’s lantern”—a complex five-sided jaw apparatus containing numerous hard, tooth-like structures. Each sea urchin possesses five calcium carbonate teeth that continuously grow from their base as their tips wear down from scraping algae off rocks. What makes these teeth extraordinary is their self-sharpening capability and incredible hardness, which rivals that of human teeth despite being made primarily of calcium carbonate rather than the enamel found in vertebrate teeth. While the total tooth count of sea urchins is not particularly high (typically five main teeth plus supporting structures), their dental system deserves mention for its mechanical sophistication. The teeth can move independently or in coordination, giving sea urchins remarkable precision in feeding. Some species can even use their dental apparatus to excavate depressions in solid rock, creating protective hollows where they can shelter from predators and rough water. This combination of continuous growth, self-sharpening capability, and mechanical complexity makes the sea urchin’s dental system one of nature’s most ingenious designs.

Catfish: Surprising Dental Arrays

Certain catfish species boast extraordinary numbers of teeth, though not in the locations one might expect. The mochokid catfish family, particularly the genus Synodontis, possess thousands of tiny teeth arranged in dense patches on their jaws. However, what truly sets catfish apart dentally are their “cardiform teeth”—densely packed, brush-like arrangements that can contain several thousand teeth in a single fish. Some species also possess pharyngeal teeth located in their throat, used for processing food after it has been taken into the mouth. The suckermouth catfish (family Loricariidae) have specialized tooth arrangements adapted for scraping algae from surfaces, with comb-like structures containing hundreds of tiny, replaceable teeth. Unlike many other fish, catfish can have teeth on multiple oral surfaces—not just their jaws but also their palate and pharyngeal region. This dental diversity reflects the broad range of feeding strategies catfish have evolved, from bottom-feeding scavengers to active predators. While catfish display impressive dental counts, they still fall short of the true record holders in the animal kingdom, though they represent one of the more surprising examples of extensive dental development.

Giant Armadillo: A Mammalian Dental Champion

Among mammals, the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) holds the record for the most teeth, with up to 100 in its mouth—more than any other land mammal. These teeth are small, peg-like structures perfectly adapted for crushing the insects that make up the bulk of this South American creature’s diet. Unlike human teeth, armadillo teeth lack enamel and continue growing throughout their lifetime, compensating for wear from their abrasive diet of insects with hard exoskeletons. The giant armadillo’s dental formula represents a significant evolutionary departure from the typical mammalian pattern, with the teeth being homodont (all similar in shape) rather than heterodont (differentiated into types like incisors, canines, etc.). This simplified yet numerous dental arrangement allows the armadillo to process large quantities of small prey items efficiently. While impressive among mammals, the giant armadillo’s 100 teeth still places it far below many marine creatures in total dental count. Nevertheless, it represents an interesting case of convergent evolution, where a mammal has developed a tooth arrangement more similar to certain reptiles or fish than to its closer mammalian relatives.

Spinner Dolphins: Surprising Dental Abundance

Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) possess between 45-65 teeth in each side of their upper and lower jaws, totaling 180-260 teeth—far more than most mammals. Unlike humans, all dolphin teeth are similar in shape (homodont), being slender and conical, perfectly adapted for catching slippery fish and squid. These teeth are designed for grasping rather than chewing, allowing the dolphin to secure prey before swallowing it whole. What makes dolphin dentition particularly interesting is that they emerge fully formed, with no replacement teeth developing—once a dolphin loses a tooth, it’s gone forever. Scientists can determine a spinner dolphin’s age by counting growth rings in their teeth, similar to tree rings. While their dental count is impressive by mammalian standards, placing them among the toothiest of all mammals, spinner dolphins still fall well short of the tooth-count records held by certain fish species. Nevertheless, their dental array represents an excellent example of evolutionary adaptation to an aquatic predatory lifestyle, with teeth specialized for quick capture of fast-moving prey in open water.

The Runner-Up: The Ghost Shark

The ghost shark (Chimaera), also known as ratfish or spookfish, possesses one of the most unusual dental arrangements in the vertebrate world. Rather than having individual teeth like most fish, ghost sharks have developed specialized dental plates—flat, mineralized structures used for crushing hard-shelled prey like crabs, mollusks, and sea urchins. These dental plates are composed of hypermineralized tissue called pleromin, which is even harder than the enamel found in human teeth. What places ghost sharks near the top of the tooth-count competition is that each dental plate contains numerous tooth-like structures, with some species having dental assemblages containing several hundred distinct dental elements. These plates continuously grow throughout the ghost shark’s life, with new dental material being added as older portions wear down. This ancient fish lineage, which diverged from sharks and rays over 400 million years ago, represents an evolutionary approach to dentition that has proven remarkably effective for their specialized bottom-feeding lifestyle. Despite their impressive dental count, ghost sharks still don’t claim the title of the animal with the most teeth—that distinction belongs to an even more remarkable creature.

The Champion: The Umbrella Mouth Gulper Eel

The true champion in the animal kingdom’s tooth competition is the umbrella mouth gulper eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides), also known as the pelican eel. This deep-sea dwelling creature possesses an estimated 15,000-20,000 tiny teeth distributed throughout its mouth and pharyngeal cavity. These minute teeth point inward, helping to prevent prey from escaping once captured. The umbrella mouth gulper eel lives in the bathypelagic zone (between 1,000-4,000 meters deep) where food is scarce, and its extraordinary mouth—which can expand to accommodate prey larger than the eel itself—coupled with its massive tooth count, represents an extreme adaptation to maximize feeding opportunities in this challenging environment. Unlike many fish that have teeth only on their jaws, the gulper eel’s teeth line much of its oral and pharyngeal cavities, creating a one-way path for prey. The teeth are not used for chewing but rather for gripping prey as the eel’s stomach expands to digest meals that may need to sustain the creature for extended periods between rare feeding opportunities. This remarkable dental adaptation, combined with its expandable jaw structure and bioluminescent tail tip (used to lure prey), makes the umbrella mouth gulper eel one of the most specialized predators in the deep ocean and the vertebrate with the most teeth in the animal kingdom.

The extraordinary dental diversity across the animal kingdom demonstrates how evolution has crafted specialized solutions to meet the challenges of different feeding strategies and environments. From the modest 32 teeth of humans to the astonishing 15,000+ teeth of the umbrella mouth gulper eel, teeth represent one of nature’s most versatile adaptations. The sheer number of teeth is just one dimension of dental specialization, with factors like replacement strategies, tooth structure, and mechanical function playing equally important roles in an animal’s feeding success. What becomes clear from examining these dental champions is that tooth count often correlates with specialized feeding niches, particularly for filter feeders and organisms that process numerous small prey items. The next time you brush your teeth, consider the remarkable diversity of dental structures that have evolved across the animal kingdom—from the continuously growing teeth of sharks to the microstructures of deep-sea predators—each exquisitely adapted to its owner’s unique ecological niche and evolutionary history.