Fox Teeth: Fascinating Facts That We Bet You Didn't Know

Supriya Jain
Sep 01, 2023 By Supriya Jain
Originally Published on Nov 12, 2021
Edited by Lara Simpson
Fact-checked by Amatullah Gulbargawala
Yelling Red Fox Standing on the Grass
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Age: 3-18
Read time: 5.4 Min

Many results are available when you search about fox teeth, but this article contains fascinating facts you may not know.

Canine animals like foxes, dogs, lions, and other wild animals have different types of teeth. Teeth have an essential role in the lifestyle and eating needs of these animals.

Foxes are primarily seen in and around your city, village, or even your rural settings. A fox is there in every place in the world, except for Antarctica.

Also, there is a remarkable similarity among the canines like the dog, fox, and wolf. The teeth and their face characteristics could be a reason why we feel they all are the same. Other things that accompany their similarity are that they all come from the same family.

After reading about the anatomy of fox teeth, also spare some time to read about related fact files on frog tongue and frog teeth.

How many teeth do foxes have?

Meat-eating animals like the wolves, lions, tigers, and foxes have sharp, long, and pointed teeth to get a grip on their prey animals and cut their meat, making it easier to eat quickly. They might not have flat chewing teeth in their mouth as they are known to swallow their food as chunks into their stomach.

Baby fox teeth band grows within the first few weeks after foxes are born. These baby fox teeth are called milk teeth or deciduous teeth.

After a few more weeks, they get the rest of their baby teeth making it 28 teeth in total. They lose their baby teeth as they grow up, and 42 new adult teeth grow in their place in the fox's mouth. Among the 42 teeth, foxes have canine, incisors, premolar, and molar teeth.

The incisors take their position in the front fox teeth band, making the nipping, biting, and scraping process easier. The canines follow the incisors.

Canine teeth are the ones that are seen out of their mouth and which is a scary element of these carnivorous animals. Foxes use these long pointed canines to tear up their food and rip the meat of their prey to eat.

The premolars and the molars located at the end of their teeth band in their mouth helps fox to grind and tear the meat and the food they eat. The red fox species have 12 incisor teeth, four canine teeth which they use for catching and killing their prey, 16 premolar teeth, and ten molar teeth.

Types Of Fox Teeth

The type and shape of animal teeth can be used to tell which kind of animal it is. The herbivores animals like horses, camels, sheep, and cows have flat and wide teeth in their mouth apt for their food eating and chewing process over time.

These plant-eaters, which generally feed on leaves, grasses, dried sticks, and leaf blades, and tough plant matter need a wide and flat teeth structure to chew them properly to make them digestible for them to eat.

While coming over to the carnivorous animals, they are meat-eaters. For their food type, they need much longer, pointed teeth to get a grip on their prey while catching them.

Also, the meat of animals like cows, zebras, and giraffes needs to be cut into pieces to make them of the correct edible size. For such purposes, carnivorous animals like lions, tigers, foxes, and wolves need these canine and incisor teeth in front of their mouth.

Talking about the omnivore's section, they eat both kinds of food, plant-based, and meat-based diet. And therefore, they have both kinds of teeth structures offering sharp teeth to cut and eat meats and the wide-flat ones to chew on their food.

The main four types of teeth present in a fox's mouth are the incisor, the canines, the premolars, and the molars.

The sharp teeth that look like fangs are the canines of the fox. These sharp canines help foxes, and other meat-eating animals catch their prey and tear them for the meat to eat in an edible size.

Beautiful red brown fox yawning

What do fox use their teeth for?

The composition and the range of teeth that foxes have been used to tear through their prey's meat and catch them live tightly with their sharp jaws and teeth. You can find the scenes of foxes hunting in animal videos that have been shown in National Geographic channels or the discovery of the animal planets.

Or you can search for content for free on different types of teeth in animals and could surely spot the foxes among the carnivorous animals having sharp canine teeth that enable them to cut through their meat. You can find other animals with foxes having similar teeth structures like the lion, tiger, wolf, and dog.

Every animal in the wild uses their teeth to hunt the prey animal and eat or tear their tough meat foods. Some animals might also bite as a defensive mechanism.

And if you ever get any bites from these canine dental, you would know how painful it can get. Also, it is important to take tetanus shots to avoid getting infected by those bites. Just like our teeth, these animals have their teeth roots covered in the root gums of their mouth.

Facts About Fox Teeth

It is a fact that a jackal, a fox, a dog, and a wolf are related to each other and are members of the Canidae family. Even though these bushy-tailed canines come from the same family, they all have differences among them.

Unlike the other family members, a fox is always seen to walk alone. We just said that dogs and foxes come from the same family, but did you know that a fox and a cat have similarities? Like a cat, foxes can sleep on branches and have sensitive whiskers like a cat and spines on their tongue.

Also, they are nocturnal animals. The red fox, the most common one among the foxes, is flexible to many environments and can adapt to them easily.

They have four sharp canine teeth in their mouth, which helps them to hunt their prey and get a hold of them easily. Even though these foxes have about 42 teeth in their mouth, they lack the facial muscles necessary to bare their teeth, just like the canids.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for fox teeth, then why not take a look at lizard teeth or red fox facts.

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Written by Supriya Jain

Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Administration specializing in Marketing

Supriya Jain picture

Supriya JainBachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Administration specializing in Marketing

As a skilled member of the Kidadl team, Shruti brings extensive experience and expertise in professional content writing. With a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Punjab University and an MBA in Business Administration from IMT Nagpur, Shruti has worked in diverse roles such as sales intern, content writer, executive trainee, and business development consultant. Her exceptional writing skills cover a wide range of areas, including SOP, SEO, B2B/B2C, and academic content.

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Fact-checked by Amatullah Gulbargawala

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Bachelor of Education specializing in the Language Arts

Amatullah Gulbargawala picture

Amatullah GulbargawalaBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Bachelor of Education specializing in the Language Arts

Amatullah is a passionate student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education from Ashoka College of Education. With a keen interest in literature, she has excelled in elocution competitions and is an accomplished writer. She has completed courses like "History of English Language and Literature", "Introduction to Western Political Thought and Theory", and "Development of Soft Skills and Personality". In her free time, Amatullah enjoys reading books and writing poetry.

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