Sources:

Those canines are “primarily used to chew up wood and other tough foods” as per one of the articles, but male adult camels may also use those to bite opponents when fighting with each other for territory / mates.

“Someone once described them as a Sarlacc pit from Star Wars” … definitely a fitting description.

Here is a video of an angry camels open mounth and unclipped teeth; https://www.youtube.com/shorts/whsdxuAy37Y … it is VERY ugly tho, view at your own discretion.

  • GregorGizeh@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I think there is also the molars and general jaw shape to consider. Carnivores are not just identified by their fangs, they have generally a different structure and layout of their jaws that is made to lock into a prey animal or tear out pieces of flesh.

    In contrast, many herbivores have teeth laid out to grind down plant matter (think cows or goats) and their mouths are laid out to chew off vegetation with very articulated lips to assist. Even if these camels have pointy fangs, the rest of their mouth would indicate they eat primarily plants.