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Carnassials are large teeth found in many carnivorous mammals, used for shearing flesh and bone in a scissor or shear
Shear

Shear as a noun may refer to:*Bias , in clothing design, fabric may be cut on the shear*Cosmic shear, an effect of distortion of image of distant galaxies due to deflection of light by matter, as predicted by general relativity ...
-like way. In the Carnivora
Carnivora

The diverse Order Carnivora includes over 260 species of eutheria mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word "carnivore" can refer to any meat-eating animal....
, the carnassials are the modified last upper premolar
Premolar

The premolar teeth or bicuspids are transitional teeth located between the Canine_tooth and Molar_ teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant, making eight premolars total in the mouth....
 and the first lower molar
Molar (tooth)

Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of tooth in most mammals. In many mammals they grind food; hence the Latin name mola, "millstone"....
, but in the prehistoric creodonts, the carnassials were further back in the jaw — first upper and second lower or second upper and third lower molars.

Carnassials are the defining characteristic of the Carnivora order; that is, they are the one thing that all of the animals within the order have in common.






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Carnassials are large teeth found in many carnivorous mammals, used for shearing flesh and bone in a scissor or shear
Shear

Shear as a noun may refer to:*Bias , in clothing design, fabric may be cut on the shear*Cosmic shear, an effect of distortion of image of distant galaxies due to deflection of light by matter, as predicted by general relativity ...
-like way. In the Carnivora
Carnivora

The diverse Order Carnivora includes over 260 species of eutheria mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word "carnivore" can refer to any meat-eating animal....
, the carnassials are the modified last upper premolar
Premolar

The premolar teeth or bicuspids are transitional teeth located between the Canine_tooth and Molar_ teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant, making eight premolars total in the mouth....
 and the first lower molar
Molar (tooth)

Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of tooth in most mammals. In many mammals they grind food; hence the Latin name mola, "millstone"....
, but in the prehistoric creodonts, the carnassials were further back in the jaw — first upper and second lower or second upper and third lower molars.

Carnassials are the defining characteristic of the Carnivora order; that is, they are the one thing that all of the animals within the order have in common. Large and pointy, the carnassial teeth are used to shear tough meats and crush bones. Devastation of the carnassial teeth in a wild carnivore (e.g. wolves, lions) may result in the death of the individual due to starvation.