Bear teeth

Bears (Ursidae) are a family of mammals, which today has eight different species in 5 genera. One of them is in our country. Sometimes the giant panda is also included in this family.

Bear species

Bears are one of the largest and strongest predatory mammals in the world. They have a massive body, covered with thick, long fur of a uniform, usually brown color. Some species have light spots on the breast. They have a short tail. The limbs are massive, ending in claws, plantigrade with five fingers. Let’s find out more about brown bers and other bear species.

The brown bear

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a protected predatory mammal from the bear family. It has a massive body structure, a short and thick neck, a small head and eyes and ears, very strong limbs. The skin is covered with very dense brown fur, there are also cream and black specimens. He has a very good sense of smell and hearing.

The Andean bear

The Andean bear, the Peruvian bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is a mammal of the bear family, slightly smaller than the brown bear with characteristic light spots around the eyes and on the neck. Fur color black or brown.

Malay Biruang

Malayan bear (Helarctos malayanus) is a mammal from the bear family. It has black fur. The coat is short and shiny. A crescent-shaped white or yellow patch on the breast. It has a narrow tongue that makes it easier to catch ants and other insects.

Black bears

Baribal, black bears (Ursus americanus) are mammal from the bears family with a uniformly black or brown coat color. There is also a red or white coloration.

The Himalayan bear

The collar bear (Ursus thibetanus) is a predatory mammal from the bear family. Skin covered with black or dark brown hair, with a Y-shaped white patch (collar) on the chest. It has the weakest teeth of all bears and therefore prefers plant food.

The polar bear

The white bear (Thalarctos maritimus) is a predator of the bear family with white or cream fur. It has a longer neck, a more elongated body than other bears. Half of his fingers are connected by leather. The feet are hairy, which protects it from the cold. It is the target of Eskimos hunting. Its fur and fat are prized. It is the undisputed ruler of eternal ice cream.

The giant panda

Bamboo bears (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) are mammals of the bears family, although they are sometimes classified as animals of the raccoon family. The body is covered with thick black and white fur. The spots around the eyes, ears, limbs up to the shoulder blades are black. It’s close to extinction.

The wrasse (Melursus ursinus)

The wrasse (Melursus ursinus) is a mammal of the bears family, which has a characteristic mane on the nape. It is thick, black or brown. It has an elongated snout and far-protruding lips that can roll up into a tube and suck termites out of the nest. There are no central incisors in the upper jaw. This bear has matted fur and a white V-shaped patch on the chest. The claws are strongly developed and hooked.

More about polar bears

The polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are not only an extraordinary “killing machine”, but also caring parents who have the well-being of their offspring at heart. Polar bears are animals who would have thought that a creature with such a skull, equipped with such sharp teeth, could at the same time be brutal and delicate as a feather in the wind. Why do I find him unusual? Because, unlike his brethren, he has a certain ability thanks to which he survived in such difficult conditions that life in the northern hemisphere gives him. He can dive and hunt underwater, which other bears currently living in the world cannot. This is governed by certain physiological and anatomical mechanisms, which will be discussed later. The predator grows up to about 3 meters in body length and a height at the withers of 1.3 – 1.5 m in the case of males and slightly less, about 2.1 m and 1.2 m in the case of females. The average body weight of males is 489 kg, while females usually weigh no more than 400 kg. Larger individuals can be found in the southern range of the species and the further north, the smaller the bears.

Where bears are located

Five of the meat eaters can be found in Asia, one in Europe, two in North America, and one in South America. This does not include animals that can be found in zoos.

How long bears live?

This animals live quite long, it depends if it’s in the wild or not. It may be up to 30–40 years in the wild and even up to 50 years in captivity.

What do bears eat?

The basis of their diet are: nuts, including beech, fruit, wasp nests, grass in early spring. Bears are mostly plant eaters, they have a short digestive tract, so they spend a long time feeding. This does not mean that the bears don’t like meat. Bears can also hunt. It also happens that when there is little food in autumn, bears take the easy way out and look for food near people, destroying or killing young domestic animals.

Bear’s teeth types

Bears have different teeth: two molars on top and three on the bottom of each side. Unlike the razor-sharp molars of cougars and wolves, a black bear’s molars are more like ours. Just like people, bears use broad, flat molars for grinding up a raw carrot, bears use theirs for grinding acorns, nuts, and all that vegetation they eat.

If we want to name all polar bear teeth we need to know that most bears have a total of 42 teeth that include all four types of teeth: 10 molars, 16 premolars, 4 canines, and 12 incisors.

And how bear teeth work look like? That animals have exceptionally sharp incisor teeth, designed specifically for ripping and tearing bits of their prey’s meat. They have four pointed canines that are long and sharp, and molars that possess flat crowns in order to crush most plants to help with their digestion.

How bears differentiate – polar bear and brown bear

As we concluded earlier on how many teeth bears usually have it’s worth to mention that the polar bear has smaller teeth that have less rubbing surface area than those of the brown bear. Plus, they’re sharper. Already after the teeth, you can see that it is an absolute carnivorous creature, unlike its brown cousin, which also has plant-based meals in its diet. The skull is narrower, but longer and visually appears slimmer than that of brown bears. In addition, this impression is emphasized by the long neck of the arctic predator. The task of the long neck and narrow skull is nothing more than to give the bear a streamlined shape. This feature is useful during underwater hunting. The animal puts up a relatively low resistance, which allows it to swim faster, and therefore also conduct more effective hunting.

How bears use their teeth – different teeth types

Each of a bear’s teeth has uniquely work pattern. Generally, they function just like any other omnivore’s teeth: they cut, they hold, they crush, and they grind various types of bear food. For example canines are mainly used to slash and cut their victims’ flesh. Canines type of teeth is also used to find the larvae – bears use their teeth to rip apart hives and eat them along with their honey.

Incisors are mainly used to rake the forest floor. The incisors are sometimes used when a bear wants to eat juicy grass or other green plants.

Another tooth are premolars that are located between each canines and molars.  Bears’ bottom jaw may not have the second and third premolars, which results a gap called diastema. This though has a positive result as this helps them to grip plants or even filter off the leaves.

How big front teeth is?

It may be surprising but bear’s tooth don’t necessairly have to be that long. It’s rather the strength not the length of tooth of that animals. The length can be few inches long or 1.5 cm.