Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Perhaps no other body part reveals as much about an animal’s relationship to its environment, says evolutionary biologist Otto Stenberg of the University of Helsinki, Finland. He told an audience in the 2024 Orkney International Science Festival about the range of tasks that teeth can tackle.
“Teeth have evolved to chop, pierce, crush and comb. They serve as sabres, scissors, mortar and pestle. The sheer diversity of tooth form and function is one of the most remarkable things about us mammals.”
Perhaps no other body part reveals as much about an animal’s relationship to its environment, says evolutionary biologist Otto Stenberg of the University of Helsinki, Finland. He told an audience in the 2024 Orkney International Science Festival about the range of tasks that teeth can tackle.
“Teeth have evolved to chop, pierce, crush and comb. They serve as sabres, scissors, mortar and pestle. The sheer diversity of tooth form and function is one of the most remarkable things about us mammals.”
