below are diagrams that illustrate the differences in dental anatomy between
the thylacine and its often-cited placental analogue, the wolf. Although
are a number of notable differences in the post-cranial skeleton
of these two species, the dentition represents one of the most striking
dissimilarities. As can be seen in the images of the maxillae (upper
jaws), the thylacine has 8 upper incisors, whereas the wolf has
only 6. In the mandible (lower jaw), the thylacine and wolf have
an equal number of incisors. Another major difference is the presence
of a specialized shearing tooth, the carnassial, in the wolf.
This tooth is a distinguishing characteristic of the wolf and other members
of the placental mammal family
Carnivora. Also, note that
unlike the wolf, the thylacine lacks large grinding surfaces on its molars.
The wolf has a total of 42 teeth, and the thylacine 46. All of the
photographs on this page are of highly precise resin replicas, cast from
|For those not familiar
with dental abbreviations, their meanings are:
i - incisor
C - canine
P - premolar
M - molar
Note the enormous
lower carnassial (M1) in the wolf mandible, which has evolved from the
first molar. The thylacine lacks this particular type of specialization.
Instead, all of its post-canine teeth have become adapted for shearing,
and have very distinct cutting edges. You can read further details
about the thylacine's dentition here.