Products Pet Care About Us Fun and Games Whats New Technical

Branch TopBranch Bottom

 

Rabbit Dentition

DENTAL FORMULA
The rabbit dental formula is:

2 Incisors 0 Canines 3 Premolars 2-3 Molars
1 0 2 3

Rabbits (lagomorphs) differ from rodents in that they have 2 pairs of upper incisors (the second pair being small and peg shaped) whilst rodents have only 1 pair. In rabbits the mandible is narrower than the maxilla, the reverse being the case in rodents. All of a rabbit's teeth are open-rooted and grow continuously, their shapes varying with function. Deciduous teeth have been reported in rabbits, but are believed to be shed either just before or just after birth, and replaced by permanent teeth which are seen between 3-4 weeks of age. The following terms are often used to describe rabbit teeth:

Aradicular = no true root / rootless / open-rooted
Hypsodont = long crowned
Heterodont = having varying tooth shapes
Diphodont = having two sets of teeth
Duplicidentata = double row of upper incisors

'Cheek Teeth' is a collective term often used to describe the premolar and molar teeth, which function as a unit.

         maxillary cheek teeth

Page 24 of 31

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Russel Rabbit 

Rabbit Skull Diagram

Russel Rabbit

Dental Structure

� Copyright 2000 by Supreme Petfoods Limited.