The world's most dangerous smile: which animal has 14,000 teeth hidden in its mouth?

Most adults have 32 permanent teeth or 28 if their wisdom teeth have been removed or have not yet erupted. However, the animal kingdom far surpasses humans when it comes to the highest number of teeth hidden in the mouth, according to IFLScience.

So, which animal has the greatest number of teeth in its mouth? It’s important to note that this refers to the number of teeth in a single animal at any given time, not over its entire lifespan. For example, the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), which can have up to 100 teeth, easily outnumbers humans. Yet, it cannot claim the crown for the most teeth among mammals.

Birds lost their teeth around 100 million years ago, and therefore cannot compete with other species. However, some geese have ribbed parts of their beaks that assist them in grasping and swallowing their prey.

If we talk about vertebrates, the winner in terms of tooth count is the Madagascar leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus). According to the Guinness World Records, they have 169 teeth in the upper jaw and 148 in the lower jaw — totaling 317 teeth.

Meanwhile, underwater, the situation is much more intriguing. For instance, a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) typically hides around 300 teeth in its mouth. The Pacific lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) possesses one of the largest sets of teeth in the sea, with approximately 555 teeth lining its broad jaws. Researchers have previously discovered that they can lose up to 30 teeth a day but quickly regrow them.

But who actually has the most teeth in the world? According to researchers, this title belongs to the snail. The Glasgow Science Centre reports that they have about 14,000 tiny teeth lining their radula — a tongue-like organ. According to Tom White, senior curator of non-insect invertebrates at the Natural History Museum in London, the radula is used by both carnivorous and herbivorous mollusks to push food fragments into their mouths.

Umbrella slugs (Umbraculum umbraculum) also deserve a special mention. Researchers note that they have around 1,500 tiny teeth covering their radula at the same time, much like terrestrial snails. Interestingly, over their lifetime, they shed about three-quarters of a million teeth.