9781422279168

TYPES OF TEETH

Depending on their diet, sharks have one of four dif- ferent kinds of teeth. Those that dwell on the bottom of the ocean and have to crack open shellfish for food have hard, flat teeth. Long, pointy teeth are good for sharks who need to snag

slippery fish. Great whites and other sharks that feed on large mammals like seals, sea lions, and dolphins have a combination of pointed lower teeth and triangular upper teeth to tear flesh into small pieces. Finally, sharks that

feed on plankton—mi- croscopic organisms that drift through the ocean— and tiny crustaceans called krill have tiny, nonfunc- tional teeth (left). These sharks simply take water in through their mouths and filter out the food.

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