Write a note on the teeth of rabbit.

Explanation

(i) Teeth are hard bone-like structures used to cut, tear and grind the food materials. The rabbit has two sets of teeth in its life time. The existence of two sets of teeth in the life of an animal is called diphyodont dentition.
(ii) In rabbit the teeth are of different types. Hence, the dentition is called heterodont. There are four kinds of teeth in mammals viz. the incisors (I), Canines (C), Premolars (PM) and Molars (M). This is expressed in the form of a dental formula.
(iii) Dental formula is the simple method of representing the teeth of a mammal. The number of each kind of tooth in the upper and the lower jaws on one side is counted.
(iv) In rabbit, the dental formula is `(I 2/1, C 0/0, PM 3/2, M 3/3)` which is wntten as `2033/1023`. Canines are absent.
(v) The gap between the incisors and premolar is called diastema, helps in mastication and chewing of food in herbivorous animals.