Question

If the dental formula of rabbits is $\dfrac{2033}{1033}$​. What does it show?
A) Total number of teeth in rabbits is 15.
B) Number of total incisors in rabbits is 3.
C) Diastema is present between incisors & premolars.
D) In the formula 2033 is for adults and 1033 is for young ones.

Answer 1

Hint: The formula which expresses both the number and kind of teeth possessed by a mammal is known as dental formula.

Complete Answer:
Rabbit teeth are categorised as elodont or those that are meant for their continuous growth and exhibiting no anatomical root.

1) Option A: Rabbit is a herbivorous animal which mostly depends on foods containing cellulose. Its jaw shows no presence of canines and the dental formula it exhibits is 2033/1033 representing their incisors, canines, premola, and molars within each jaw. The total number of teeth present in rabbits is 28 and not 15. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

2) Option B: From the dental formula, we can conclude that there are 4 incisors in the upper jaw and two in the lower jaw. Therefore, there are totally 6 incisors present and not 3. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

3) Option C: In rabbits, you can find the diastema to be present between the incisors and premolars. Diastema is basically the gap between two teeth. As in rabbits, canines are absent, there is space present. Therefore, this is the correct option.

4) Option D: The fraction does not represent the numerator as adult teeth count and the denominator as that of young teeth counts. It represents the dental formula of a rabbit. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

Thus, the correct option is C) Diastema is present between incisors & premolars.

Additional information:
- The dental formula only represents one half of the teeth present in the upper and lower jaw. Thus, in order to actually find the total number of teeth, one must multiply it by 2.
For examples,
1) 2 in 2033 denotes the incisor in the upper jaw, but the actual number of incisors in the upper jaw is 4.
2) 1 in 1033 denotes the incisor in the lower jaw, but the actual number of incisors in the lower jaw is 2.

Note: The role of various types of teeth are as follows,
A) Incisors - It helps in biting the food.
B) Canines- They help in tearing the food apart.
C) Premolars- They help in both tearing and crushing the food.
D) Molars- They help in grinding, crushing and tearing the food.