this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2024
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Science

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Komodo dragons have iron-coated teeth, scientists find | Reptiles | The Guardian (amp.theguardian.com)
submitted 4 months ago by Mothra@mander.xyz to c/science@mander.xyz
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Pretty interesting find. (Not completely sure if this is the right community for this- let me know if you know where else it would be a good fit!)

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[–] expatriado@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

the article doesn't mention how corrosion is prevented, since iron loves to rust, also doesn't link to a paper which could contain that information

[–] snooggums@midwest.social 11 points 4 months ago (2 children)

The coating being orange indicates it is reacting with oxygen, aka rusting.

They aren't shiny silver plated teeth.

[–] expatriado@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

rust of soft tho, it doesn't like to bond with each other

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Had to look this up yesterday as I had thought the same. In rodents anyway, the orange color is from amino acids, not the iron in their teeth.

[–] snooggums@midwest.social 2 points 4 months ago

Where did you find a source that it was from amino acids?

This one says the orange is from the iron

Wikipedia's citationed summary confirms it is orange due to the the iron

They have four chisel-shaped incisors that continue to grow throughout their lives. The incisors are covered in a thick enamel that is colored orange or reddish-brown by iron compounds.

[–] Pheral@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

I thought about the rust too. Wouldn't that mean their bite could give you tetanus on top of the hellish bacterial cocktail they have in their saliva?