Snails belong to the class of Gastropoda of mollusks. It is the most numerous class belonging to separate type of animals – to mollusks. Gastropoda include about 100000 different types. In Russia about 1620 species of various snails and slugs are known.
Whether snails have teeth?Are available, but it is conditional as they are located not absolutely as at the majority of vertebrate animals. And not absolutely it is teeth. So-called radula are chitinous tapes on which there are thousands of chitinous "teeth". Here only these "teeth" do not get to the core of food, and scrape off it.
Predatory carnivorous snails before a meal use the special caustic liquid emitted by them. It allows to soften future food.
The fact is that language at snails is a grater. It received the name exactly thanks to the fact that the snail to them scrapes off pieces of food, excrements of fishes and other edible things. Language grater is an irreplaceable help for crushing by snails of any given food. That radula (chitinous tape) is located directly in language. Quite often chitinous tape and a grater are united in the same concept – language.
The tape radula is available as for carnivorous snails and slugs (naked snails), and for herbivorous. Difference here only one: at different types of these mollusks the chitinous tape has the own "tooth" drawing.
How many at snails of teeth?Long time was not known to science what number of teeth is in a mouth at snails. However time does not stand still: scientists conducted a number of researches and experiments with mollusks and found out how many teeth are available in a mouth for any given snails. It appears, the American garden snail on the chitinous tape has 135 rows of the smallest teeth, enters each of which up to 105 teeth. If to count, then their total will be equal to 14175. This snail is an absolute record-holder by the number of teeth!
How do teeth of snails work?Teeth of snails are mobile. Due to their certain movements the mollusk pushes food to itself in a mouth, scraping off it: food slowly but surely forces the way in a gullet of a snail. Language (chitinous tape) at mollusks frays food quite effectively, however not without loss for the snail. The fact is that her small teeth are forced constantly and in a large number to be erased.
The snail under the name an oyster drill is carnivorous. You will not confuse its way of food with any another: it bores through a sink of an oyster and greedy scrapes out the language her meat.
It should be noted that for mollusks the erased teeth are not a problem at all. The fact is that their teeth grow constantly and pretty fast. In principle, such regeneration in a mouth of a snail reminds constantly renewed teeth at sharks.