Do Lizards Have Teeth? Interesting Facts You Didn't Know

The process of regrowing teeth or teeth replacement in vertebrates is called polyphyodonty and is usually found in non-mammalian vertebrates such as reptiles.

Like other animals, reptiles need to defend themselves against bigger animals or humans. Pet lizards do not really bite, but a wild lizard might bite you if threatened.

Lizards are widespread animals (or reptiles), with over 6,000 species occupying many oceanic chains of islands and every continent except Antarctica. Lizards vary in size, from small geckos or chameleons to big ones, such as Komodo dragons. Lizards are territorial in nature, so males frequently fight each other to establish territories.

Lizards are carnivores, and they sit and wait for their prey. Small lizard species eat insects, while larger ones can even eat water buffaloes and other small vertebrates. Most lizards are active in the day, and some of them are at night.

However, all lizard species need sunlight to regulate body temperature. Legless lizards are snake-like as they have no legs.

Most lizards move on all four limbs. Some are also capable of gliding. To escape their predators, lizards will drop their tails, which later regrow.

They also use reflex bleeding, venom, and camouflaging to stay away from predators. Lizard species use touch, hearing, sight, and olfaction for survival. Like most mammals and snake species, the vomeronasal organ (in the olfactory system) of all lizards detects pheromones.

Lizards' skin is covered in overlapping scales of keratin like other reptiles. This skin protects lizards against harsh environments and reduces any water loss through evaporation. Lizards are able to thrive in the driest deserts in the world due to this adaptation.

They have tough leathery skin, which sheds as lizards grow. Lizards shed their skin in pieces, unlike snakes that shed in one piece.

A lizard's scales may get modified into spines for protection or for display. Lizards can extend their long tongues outside their mouths. Monitor lizards, whiptails, and beaded lizards use their forked tongues to get a sense of their environment, like snakes.

If you enjoyed reading these facts about whether lizards have teeth, then make sure to read some more interesting facts about whether lizards hibernate and if lizards lay eggs here at Kidadl.

Do lizards have teeth?

Yes, lizards do have teeth.

Squamata reptiles have either pleurodont teeth or acrodont teeth, unlike the thecodont teeth found in mammals, crocodiles, and dinosaurs. Pleurodont dentition is found in many lizards, like monitor lizards, iguanas and snakes.

Acrodont dentition is found in agamid lizards, like water dragons, bearded dragons and chameleons.

Their teeth are made up of four dental tissues that have blood vessels, connective tissues, and nerves in them. Lizards do not have sharp fangs like most snakes do.

A lizard's teeth are made for their diet, and they are molluscivorous, nectarivorous, omnivorous, herbivorous, insectivorous, and carnivorous.

So, common types of lizard species have uniform teeth that suit these reptiles; however, many lizard species have teeth that are variable, like rear-fanged for crushing and front teeth on the jaws for cutting. Alligator lizards and skink species feed on snails, so molar-like teeth and powerful jaws will help these animals to crush their prey's shells.

How many teeth do lizards have?

The number of teeth increases as lizards grow from as low as 32-60, and the number of teeth varies from one lizard species to another.

Lizards go through tooth replacement as they grow. In an ocellated lizard, the number of teeth in its mouth increases as it begins to grow into an adult from a neonate.

Like lizards, snakes, tuataras, and crocodilians have teeth that vary in type of attachment, form, and shedding. Baby lizards have black acrodont or pleurodont teeth and are very small and barely visible in their mouth.

These animals go from five teeth to 10 on the premaxilla, 12-22 on each of their maxilla, and 15-28 on each of their dentary. Lizard species do not inject venom from fangs like snakes. The fangs of a snake will puncture humans' skin and inject venom.

The venom of lizards enters through grooves that run along their mouth's exteriors from the glands situated at the base of their mandibles. Tooth loss is also vital in lizards and reptiles, even in snakes.

Species with pleurodont teeth regularly replace teeth by shedding, so dental diseases in these lizards are rare. Acrodont teeth only get replaced in very young lizards, though new teeth get added at the posterior end of a lizard's tooth row as it grows.

Lizards' teeth can loosen due to MBD (Metabolic bone disease). Lizards can test their teeth by chewing or biting on hard objects like oral speculum.

Where are teeth present in lizards?

Most lizards have teeth along their jaw margin attached to the jaw bone, and some will have them on their palate.

Lizards either have pleurodont or acrodont dentition. The majority of reptile teeth are pleurodont, meaning that they are attached to the mandible sides with no sockets, and acrodont teeth are found in Chamaeleontidae.

Agamidae lizard families have acrodont teeth that are superficially attached to the jaw's biting edges without sockets. However, some reptiles have thecodont teeth. Pleurodont dentition has longer roots and is weakly attached to the mandibles of a lizard.

This rests on the mandibles' lingual side, and there is a pronounced ridge of bone on the buccal side. Pleurodont teeth are replaceable.

Acrodont teeth have a strong attachment with short roots that are fused with the bone. Unlike pleurodont teeth, acrodont teeth cannot be replaced.

Some lizards use their teeth to grind coarse food, and others use their teeth to break or tear large chunks of food into smaller pieces. Lizards also use their teeth during mating and against predators. Males bite a females' head or neck during mating to latch on.

It is possible to receive bites from exotic species during handling reptiles or when threatened. It is always recommended to handle lizards calmly without startling them.

What do lizard teeth look like?

Most lizards have sharp, pointed, conical teeth that are short pleurodonts, like snake teeth, while some have serrated and curved teeth.

The growth patterns of reptile teeth vary in each lizard species. Lizards have around 100 exposed teeth that are replaced every few months.

Lizard species have bladelike or conical tricuspid teeth or bicuspid teeth. Komodo dragons (or Varanus komodoensis) have curved, serrated teeth like scalpel blades.

These sharp teeth can easily penetrate the leg muscles of full-grown water buffaloes, and these animals can bleed to death. In lizards that mainly feed on crustaceans and mollusks, like caiman lizards (Dracaena) and Nile Monitors (Varanus niloticus), you will likely rounded teeth that are blunt at the back of their jaws for crushing.

Herbivorous lizards, like iguanas, have teeth crowns that are leaf-shaped and serrated cutting edges. Venomous lizards, such as the Gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard, have a longitudinal fold or groove on the inner part of their mandibular tooth, and these grooves enhance venom introduction.

Periodontal disease is usually reported in captive-bred acrodont lizard species, including frilled lizards, water dragons, bearded dragons, Jackson's chameleons, and Sailfin lizards. Symptoms of this disease are calculus formation, gingival recession, and gingival erythema. If the condition is particularly, serious a lizard will go through abscess formation and osteomyelitis.

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