Do Turtles Have Teeth?

Sea turtles are the most adapted species, apart from their shells. Another feature that distinguishes them from

other cold-blooded reptiles is their teeth, so do turtles have teeth?

No, turtles don't have teeth. Instead they have sharp beaks that help them eat. Some turtle species have

ridges along the inside of their beaks, while other turtle species have strong jaws and sharp, pointed beaks.

Hatchlings have teeth called egg teeth or caruncles that do not last long.

Now that you know turtles don't have teeth, let's understand what they have instead of teeth.

What do they have instead of teeth?

Turtles have no trouble eating their food without teeth, they use their large mouth and jaws to bite their food. 

Turtles can eat food without teeth because they swallow completely using their tongue.

The best example of this is the sea turtle. The main food of these aquatic turtles is fish and insects. 

They often extend their tongues to lure small prey underwater and pull the prey into their mouths.

The sea turtle then clenches its jaws and swallows their prey with ease.

Now. This also applies when turtles can swallow their food directly. 

But what if they have to cut the food into smaller pieces for their prey?

 

To cut their food, tortoises have sharp beaks that work like teeth.

Their beaks are very strong and exert tremendous pressure to bite the food into small pieces.

Then the turtle takes the small food into its mouth and moves it to the back of its mouth to swallow it. 

They do this with the help of their lobes, the biting turtle is one of the best examples of this as they have a

strong beak. 

 

However, some soft-shelled turtles have soft lips but a sharp beak.

So even though tortoises don't have teeth, they have strong beaks and jaws. Which acts as a suitable

substitute

Turtles are not live carriers. The female tortoise lays eggs but the eggshell is hard to crack.

So the hatchlings are born with egg teeth. These are also known as caruncles. 

These are very sharp, the hatchlings use these as teeth to break the eggshell and get out of it.

 By the time the hatchling is free of the eggshell, the eggshell teeth will have fallen out on their own over the

next few days. 

 

And then, the hatchling uses its beak and jaws to eat food like an adult turtle.

Okay, so hatchlings have egg teeth that don't work for long.