Mondo Knows Facts
Beaver front teeth are orange because they contain iron
Iron incorporated into beaver tooth enamel protects against wear from wood.
To gnaw through tough tree trunks and branches without breaking their teeth, beavers have enamel reinforced with iron compounds. The iron gives their incisors a distinct bright orange colour and makes the front edge far harder than the soft dentine behind it, maintaining a sharp self-sharpening chisel edge.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
The narwhal tusk is actually an overgrown canine toothA narwhal spiral tusk contains millions of sensitive nerve endings.Hippos secrete a red oily liquid that acts as sunscreenHippos produce red sweat that blocks ultraviolet rays and bacteria.Naked mole-rats rarely get cancer and live over thirty yearsHigh molecular weight hyaluronan protects naked mole-rat cells.Nine-banded armadillos almost always give birth to identical quadrupletsA single fertilized egg splits into four identical embryos every time.Echidnas lay soft-shelled eggs and produce milk without nipplesMonotremes are primitive mammals that lay eggs instead of giving live birth.The capybara is the world largest living rodent speciesCapybaras can weigh over 65 kilograms and stay under water for five minutes.
Tags: beaver, mammals, teeth
Beaver front teeth are orange because they contain iron: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Iron incorporated into beaver tooth enamel protects against wear from wood. The figure is taken from San Diego Zoo, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.