Question

Read the following statements and select the correct option
Statement 1 : Dental formula gives the number of teeth in the half of each jaw
Statem ent 2 : Dental formula can be expressed for insectivorous mammals as well as for the non- mammalian vertebrates

• A. Both statements 1 and 2 are correct
• B. Statement 1 is correct but statement 2 is incorrect
• C. Statement 1 is incorrect but statement 2 is correct
• D. Both statements 1 and 2 are incorrect

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

Dental formula is a representation of the dentition of an animal. A dental formula consists of eight numbers, four above and four below a horizontal line. The numbers represent (from left to right) the number of incisors, canines, premolars and molars in either half of the upper and lower
jaws e.g., the dental formula of man is $\frac{2123}{2123}$
Dental formula is used to represent heterodont teeth which are present in mammals only. It cannot be used to represent dentition of vertebrates other than mammals as they have homodont teeth