Hook tooth
The single canine tooth ( lat. "Dens caninus" ) of each half of the jaw in the upper and lower jaw , which in horses is located in the diastema between the incisors and the molars, is called a hook tooth . The total of four hook teeth are designed in the form of a hook , with those of the lower jaw being closer to the incisors than those of the upper jaw. The corresponding milk tooth is created, but rarely breaks through. The permanent canine teeth appear in the fourth or fifth year of life.
The hook teeth in male horses reach a length of up to 7 cm, but most of them are in the tooth socket and only about 1 cm of them are visible. In mares, the hook teeth break through very rarely and then only slightly developed ( rudimentary ), such mares are called "hook mares" in some areas. The previous assumption that hooked mares were sterile was refuted by experience as early as the 19th century.
The hook teeth are pointed up to the sixth year, then, mainly due to the friction of the dentition, become blunted up to the tenth year and only form rounded cusps in very old animals.
See also
literature
- F.-V. Salomon: bit of the horse. In: Salomon et al. (Hrsg.): Anatomie für die Tiermedizin . Enke, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8304-1007-7 , pp. 260-264.
- Shkumbin Memedi: The incidence of hook tooth disease in horses. Dissertation . Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86664-278-2 .
