Mondo Knows Facts
Sea urchins scrape rocks using a five-toothed jaw mechanism
Aristotle lantern apparatus features five self-sharpening teeth.
Sea urchins graze on tough algae using a complex internal jaw structure called Aristotle lantern. Composed of five pointed calcium carbonate teeth controlled by forty muscles, the teeth continuously self-sharpen as hard calcite crystals grind against rock surfaces.
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Tags: sea-urchin, ocean, anatomy
Sea urchins scrape rocks using a five-toothed jaw mechanism: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Aristotle lantern apparatus features five self-sharpening teeth. The figure is taken from Natural History Museum, 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.
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