Just today, though, another cool questioner happened to ask me about mouse teeth. I know some basics - like how the molars don't grow more once they are formed but the front teeth continue to grow for the rest of rodent lives. I know some of the basic things that can go wrong, like overgrowth, abscesses, malocclusion, etc. I don't know when baby mice get their teeth, though, and the question that's really driving me crazy is whether or not rodents get milk teeth (deciduous teeth). I hate when not only do I not know, but I also can't find. I'm sure if I keep hunting I'll uncover the answer eventually.
I did find the answer to when infant mice get their teeth, though, even if I don't know if they're permanent or not. This paper mentions that lab mice showed dentin (the bony layer beneath the enamel) formation at 1-2 days after birth and enamel formation 3 or more days after birth. The rest of the toothy development seems to have taken place in utero. That's interesting!! If you've ever seen a day old mouse pup you probably weren't particularly worried about getting bit (except by mom!), but early mouse development was always something that struck me as very interesting. Well, mice in general, actually.
 |
| (Lorena Cupcake) |
Anyhoo, still don't know about the milk teeth. I'll find it sooner or later. I should definitely be cramming for my finals, though!
In other news, my fiance and I thought we were getting a buncha land this summer but it fell through, so we're still looking for a new house with some acreage. As soon as we achieve that we can hopefully get started on some meat/egg chickens and then...*drumroll please*...DAIRY GOATS! And fiber goats! I like goats. Then I will have even more cool animal stuff to talk about! :)
There's more other-news about that tripawd I posted up a little while back, but it's fairly unpleasant (she's fine, don't worry) so I'll save that for another day. :)
Later gators!
-Mouse
No comments:
Post a Comment