the.com/rodent
Nature's answer to the question nobody asked: what if teeth never stopped growing?
means A gnawing mammal — like a rat, mouse, or squirrel — defined by a single pair of ever-growing incisors in each jaw that it must constantly wear down by chewing.
from From Latin 'rodere,' meaning 'to gnaw,' via the French 'rongeur.' The naturalists who coined the scientific grouping in the 1800s simply named the animals after the one thing they all relentlessly do.
- species count
- over 2,000, nearly 40% of all mammals
- incisor growth
- teeth can grow inches per year untreated
- largest member
- capybara, roughly the size of a dog
- gnawing reason
- chewing wears teeth down, not for food