Horn tooth

Horn teeth ( Ceratodontes ) are structures in the oral cavity made of horny substance that functionally serve as teeth . In contrast to the bone teeth, they arise through cornification from the epithelium of the oral mucosa .

They come in several forms:

• Conical horn teeth are found in round mouths .
• Plate-shaped horn teeth occur in some mammals that have lost their bone teeth . They can be found, for example, with platypus , manatees and baleen whales .
• Horn sheaths ( Rhamphotheca ), which cover the jawbones, occur in anomodontia , turtles and birds (→ beak ).

literature

• Ernst Haeckel : Systematic Phylogeny of the Vertebrates: Third Part , 1896, pp. 142-143.