# Do hippos have baby teeth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982 "2020-03-21T22:05:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/1 "2020-03-21T22:05:18Z")
Mr. singular is an artist, and he has carved me a beautiful teeny tiny perfect replica of the Taj Mahal using hippo ivory. Today we were watching a YouTube video of Fiona, the Cincinnati hippo, and I speculated that perhaps there could be a way to collect hippo baby teeth. I think I was joking - but do they have them and lose them? Their teeth are pretty spaced out, so they don’t have the crowding issue humans have. But do hippos - or any other animal, for that matter, have baby teeth that naturally fall out? ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/2 "2020-03-21T22:16:43Z")
Most mammals are diphyodonts, having a set af “baby teeth” and then a set of adult teeth. Only a few are polyphyodonts, and some only regrow a few constantly – I believe rabbits and rodents only constantly regrow incisors. > **[Polyphyodont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphyodont)** > > A polyphyodont is any animal whose teeth are continually replaced. In contrast, diphyodonts are characterized by having only two successive sets of teeth. > Polyphyodonts include most toothed fishes, many reptiles such as crocodiles and geckos, and most other vertebrates, mammals being the main exception. > New, permanent teeth grow in the jaws, usually under or just behind the old tooth, from stem cells in the dental lamina. Young animals typically have a full set of teeth when they hatch; there ... ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/3 "2020-03-21T22:19:58Z")
Dogs do. I’ve had puppies that had permanent teeth coming in behind their baby teeth and also lost their baby teeth. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/4 "2020-03-22T01:47:25Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > But do hippos - or any other animal, for that matter, have baby teeth that naturally fall out? > [@Arkcon](#): > > Most mammals are diphyodonts, having a set af “baby teeth” and then a set of adult teeth. +1 Sheep and goats are born with a full set of “milk teeth” which are progressively replaced by permanent teeth in a regular timeline precise enough to be used to estimate the age of the animal. Hippos aren’t born with teeth. Am sure a quick google would provide details of the ages that they do erupt but an obligatory photos of [baby hippos teething](https://www.google.com/search?q=baby+hippopotamus+teeth&rlz=1C1SQJL_enAU808AU808&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=lidsdB7t3686EM%253A%252CO-DQ5YGc4l6JxM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTsDKfcpwOhkEgj0KlmkXXCYuoivg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNzNCM-KzoAhW7yjgGHbX6DRkQ9QEwA3oECAgQFQ#imgrc=KRDiiP2Tyxr8EM) might suffice. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/5 "2020-03-22T05:13:02Z")
Looks like about 32 deciduous (baby) teeth and 38-42 adult teeth, sometimes not all baby teeth are lost. Most are molars or premolars, baby teeth appear to be 3 incisors per quadrant, 1 canine, 4 premolars. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/6 "2020-03-22T12:38:56Z")
IIRC, elephants get about six sets of molars over their lifespan, each lasting about ten years before they’re too worn down to be of use. In fact, one way that elephants die of old age is by running out of teeth. Given that they’re replaced because they wear out, I’m not sure how much usable ivory you’d get out of a shed elephant tooth. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/7 "2020-03-22T17:58:23Z")
Besides, who’s going to go diving for used hippo teeth? I recall reading somewhere that hippos are responsible for more deaths in Africa than lions - the are very territorial about boats invading their personal space. IIRC the point with rodents is not that they replace their teeth, but that their front teeth are constantly growing and they need to keep wearing them down. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-hippos-have-baby-teeth/849982/8 "2020-03-23T09:26:03Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Besides, who’s going to go diving for used hippo teeth? I recall reading somewhere that hippos are responsible for more deaths in Africa than lions - the are very territorial about boats invading their personal space. > IIRC the point with rodents is not that they replace their teeth, but that their front teeth are constantly growing and they need to keep wearing them down. They did talk about the hippos grinding their tusks on the show - by the way, the Cincinnati Zoo’s YouTube channel is a wonderful distraction. They’re so focused o their animal’s habitats that they probably could find the baby teeth in the pool. I’ll submit a question to them. And yeah, I know I could’ve just googled this, but I’d rather enjoy the Dope conversation, especially now.