mehrzahnige

Mehrzahnige is a German adjective meaning “having more teeth” and is used in scientific contexts to describe dentition that includes a higher number of teeth than typical for a given species or group. It is formed from mehr (more) and Zahn (tooth) with the usual adjectival ending -ige. The term is descriptive rather than a formal taxonomic category.

In dentition, mehrzahnige describes organisms with an unusually high tooth count or with densely arranged teeth in the jaws. The assessment is relative, depending on comparisons within a lineage or against fossil or modern relatives. In scholarly writing, it often appears in descriptive accounts of jaw structures or dental plates where the number of teeth exceeds that of closely related forms. The concept overlaps with terms used in English such as polydont or polyodont, which refer to having many teeth or to continuous tooth replacement, respectively.

Usage and context: The term is more common in descriptive paleontology and zoology than in clinical dentistry, where more precise terms like diphyodont (two sets of teeth) or polyphyodont (continuous replacement) are frequently preferred. Mehrzahnige is thus a qualitative descriptor indicating a dentition with notably high tooth density or tooth count, rather than a standalone scientific category.

Related concepts include polydontie or polyodont dentition in English-language literature, and diphyodont dentition as a contrasting baseline. The German term remains primarily descriptive.