Quick Take
- Goats have a dental feature where humans have teeth, and this difference is the secret to how they eat. See their unique anatomy →
- Losing a baby tooth triggers a precise, multi-year sequence in goats, and the timeline might surprise you. Follow the tooth timeline →
- A goat's strange dental anatomy is not a limitation at all. It is a finely tuned adaptation for a specific way of eating. Discover the dental adaptation →
- Baby goat teeth are sharp and appear fast, yet what happens next follows a surprisingly deliberate pattern. Get the fast facts →
Losing your baby teeth is a big milestone in growing up. While humans lose their baby teeth, have you ever considered whether other animals do too? Goats are one example of animals that lose their baby teeth. This Instagram post by @sale_ranch_animal_sanctuary shows a goat that just lost her first baby tooth. Read on to learn more.
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The timeline of losing baby teeth depends on the individual goat, with most goats having their adult teeth by about age four.
©Piotr Velixar/Shutterstock.com
Why Do Goats Lose Their Teeth?
Just like many other mammals, goats eventually lose their baby teeth to make way for stronger adult teeth. Goats lose the eight front teeth on their lower jaw, which you can see in the video above. Unlike humans, goats do not have upper front incisors. Instead, they have a leathery and tough dental pad that they press their lower teeth against to bite and tear through food. After birth, baby goats quickly grow their eight small and sharp baby teeth. After about a year, goats begin to lose their baby teeth. They first lose the central pair, followed by the second and third pairs, and finally the outer pair over the following months. By around four to five years old, they should have all of their permanent adult teeth in place.
Just like human teeth, goats lose their baby teeth as the adult teeth develop. As the permanent tooth grows underneath the baby tooth and moves up, the root of the baby tooth loosens. Eventually, most likely while eating, the goat will lose the tooth. While it may seem strange that goats only have lower front teeth, this is a natural adaptation. Goats are browsers that feed on leaves, twigs, shrubs, and other vegetation. Instead of having both upper and lower front teeth, goats use their upper dental pad and lower teeth to grasp and tear vegetation. The teeth near the back of their mouth grind the food. Unlike humans, goats do not need upper front teeth to eat.
