The first thing to note here is that alligators are not “born”, they “hatch”. The second thing to note is that they do not hatch possessing teeth. To be more specific, alligators begin their life hatching from their egg by using the one tooth they possess early on. This tooth is known as an “egg tooth” this egg tooth grows similar to that of an arhiniss horn on their nose and is used to break open the shell of their eggs when it is time for them to hatch.
As the alligator grows, the egg tooth will eventually disappear. What is interesting about alligators is that they hatch already resembling adult alligators; in that they are already able to walk, swim and vocalize. However they are unable to bite right away, since they only hatch with an egg tooth, however they will later lose this egg tooth and begin to grow an actual set of teeth.
An alligator’s egg tooth is a small white lump on the tip of the nose that helps them scratch away a weakness in the egg shell when they are ready to hatch. It is tiny and also pretty sharp.
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