Most snakes possess teeth. While not all snakes have fangs, all have some form of dentition. These teeth are primarily used for grasping and securing prey before the snake swallows its meal whole.
Understanding Snake Teeth
Snake teeth are typically sharp, slender, and curve backward, which helps them hold onto struggling prey. This backward curvature is crucial for ensuring that once prey is seized, it cannot easily slip out of the snake’s mouth. Unlike mammals, snakes do not use their teeth for chewing; instead, they swallow their prey whole.
Snakes often have multiple rows of these teeth. Most commonly, they feature two rows on the lower jaw and four rows on the upper jaw, including additional rows on the roof of the mouth, known as palatine and pterygoid teeth. These rows work in a conveyor-belt-like motion, allowing the snake to “walk” its jaws over the prey and maneuver it towards the esophagus. Snake teeth are also continuously replaced throughout their lives, similar to sharks.
The Role of Fangs
Fangs are specialized, elongated teeth primarily found in venomous snakes. These modified teeth are connected to venom glands located behind the snake’s eyes. When a venomous snake bites, muscles around these glands contract, forcing venom through ducts and into the hollow or grooved fangs.
Fangs function much like hypodermic needles, allowing for efficient and rapid injection of toxins. This venom helps to immobilize or kill the prey. While the primary purpose of fangs is for predation, some snakes may also use them for defense, though they are less likely to inject venom in defensive strikes, sometimes resulting in “dry bites.”
Diversity in Snake Dentition
Snake dentition varies significantly across species, reflecting diverse feeding strategies. Venomous snakes exhibit three main types of fangs: proteroglyphous, solenoglyphous, and opisthoglyphous. Proteroglyphous fangs, found in elapids like cobras and mambas, are fixed at the front of the mouth and are relatively short, requiring the snake to bite and hold to deliver venom effectively. Solenoglyphous fangs, characteristic of vipers such as rattlesnakes, are long, hollow, and hinged, folding back against the roof of the mouth when not in use and swinging forward during a strike.
Opisthoglyphous fangs are located at the rear of the upper jaw and are typically grooved rather than hollow. Snakes with these fangs, often colubrids, usually need to chew on their prey to allow the venom to flow down the grooves and into the wound. Highly specialized egg-eating snakes (genus Dasypeltis) have greatly reduced or almost no teeth. Instead, they possess unique bony projections from their vertebrae that are used to crack eggs internally after swallowing them whole.