heterodont

1. (zootomy) Having teeth of different types (like most mammals).Examples: ""On the Homologies and Notation of the Teeth of Mammalia," by W[illiam] H[enry] Flower, F.R.S. […] The classification and special homologies of the teeth of the heterodont mammals was next discussed."; "The adaptation of the form of the teeth on both sides to this position, and the accurate adjustment of their contiguous surfaces, shows that it is a natural conformation. They are, moreover, of very nearly even height throughout the series, and in their configuration present a remarkable and gradual transition from the first incisor to the last molar, easily traced in both jaws, and more even and regular than in any other known heterodont mammal."; "The few common characters by which the Edentata are associated are too well known to need repetition. The principal one is the abseance of any trace of the typical heterodont and diphyodont dentition, found in a more or less modified form in all other placental mammals."Antonyms: homodontnot-comparable

2. (malacology) Of bivalves or their hinge teeth: having two to three wedge-shaped cardinal teeth set in the centre near the umbones, generally also with elongated lateral teeth on the anterior and posterior margins.Examples: "The heterodont arrangement is characteristic of the Venus clams and cockles."; "In this sense all hinges are Heterodont, and the distinction drawn by [Melchior] Neumayr between Heterodont and Desmodont teeth, so far as their situation is concerned, resolves itself into a comparison between teeth originally laterals and both in one valve, with paired laminæ in the opposite valve, on the one side; and teeth originally cardinals, or, if laterals, then laterals of which one was in one valve and one in the other, with the clasping laminæ also alternated."; "I wish, however, at once to say, that a satisfactory solution will only be arrived at by actual observation of the development of the hinge of heterodont bivalves."not-comparable