by wickedwillie on January 21st, 2005

wickedwillie

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Do turtles and tortoises have teeth?

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Answers. 4 helpful answers below.

  • by allbyend on January 22nd, 2005

    allbyend

    Turtles do not have teeth, they have a jagged beak that catches, holds and slices food.

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  • by Jackie Klos on January 25th, 2005

    Jackie Klos

    no, turtles and tortoises do not have any teeth. but they have an amazingly strong jaw pressure

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  • by iwnit on December 6th, 2008

    iwnit

    "Turtles are herbivorous (plant eating), carnivorous (meat eating) and omnivorous (plant and meat eating). The majority are omnivorous but many have highly specialized diets. For example the Leatherback feeds only on jellyfish and the Hawksbill turtle feeds on sponges. All of these specialized diets have produced an array of different beaks. Firstly, turtles do not have teeth. Instead, they have a hard casing similar to the beak of a bird. This beak is self-sharpening and is good for eating a variety of things. Some turtles use this sharp beak to chomp and tear leaves. Some turtles have a hooked tip to allow them to grab and hold slippery foods such as fish or jellyfish. Some turtles chase their food whereas some turtles are ambush predators.

    Some turtles have mouths that work more like a vacuum cleaner and they suck their prey into their mouths."
    Source and further information:
    http://www.ardastra.com/turtleinfo.html


    2) "Turtles have a rigid beak. Turtles use their jaws to cut and chew food. Instead of teeth, the upper and lower jaws of the turtle are covered by horny ridges. Carnivorous turtles usually have knife-sharp ridges for slicing through their prey. Herbivorous turtles have serrated-edged ridges that help them cut through tough plants. Turtles use their tongues to swallow food, but they cannot, unlike most reptiles, stick out their tongues to catch food."
    Source and further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle


    3) "Turtles and tortoises don’t have teeth. Instead, their mouths have a hard, sharpened edge that they use to bite with, kind of like a bird’s beak. Some species, like map turtles Graptemys sp. and the river terrapin Batagur baska, also have a hard shelf, or secondary palate, in the upper jaw that helps them crush foods like snails or plant stems and fruits."
    Source and further information:
    http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-turtle.html

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  • by turtleperson on June 29th, 2005

    turtleperson

    No. Turtles have a little clear liner that helps along with that they have strong jaws.you can see the clear thing if your turtle opens its mouth.its hard to descibe.its very small and hard to see.im not sure what the clear liner is it is almost like teeth to the turtle!it slices the the food like our teeth do our food.

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