If animals had metal teeth and claws?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

What would things be like if instead of calcium carbonate and related materials, animals had metal teeth and claws?
Like if Sharks had H1 stainless steel teeth, and if tigers had steel claws instead of keratin and things like that?

Would sharks be biting chunks out of steel ships and would these animals be harder for humans to live around or what?

[Evil D]

Puff puff pass man. Puff puff pass. Lol.

[ImageX]

https://youtu.be/OQSNhk5ICTI

[The Mastiff]

Seems like I heard of an Army K9 animal that had a Ti (?) tooth put in as a replacement. I don't think it made a bit of difference bite wise but got media mentions that made it out as something it wasn't. I have heard of artificial beaks given to birds too.

Joe

[Evil D]

I'm pretty sure DMX had one of his pit bull's teeth crowned with some type of metal because he had worn them down to nubs fighting.

Regardless, even if a shark had steel teeth that doesn't mean its bite would be powerful enough to bite through a steel ship hull. As far as biting and teeth go, a shark is basically the absolute perfection of that design. It already has rows of hundreds of teeth that automatically fill in when a tooth is lost. They also have one of the strongest bite forces in nature but it isn't nearly enough to bite through steel regardless of the type of teeth it has.

[The Deacon]

The folks who now risk their lives stealing live wires for the copper might switch to poaching.

[Doc Dan]

If animals has metal teeth perhaps we would have calcium carbonate knives? :))

If sharks had steel teeth that would be bad, but what would be worse is if Humboldt Squid had steel beaks!

[bearfacedkiller]

Does this imply that we would have metal teeth too? Whoa! I don't even know what steel I would pick? I mean, I don't want them to rust but I certainly want good edge retention. Hmmm... They need to be tough too. Man, on one hand I could see LC200N but on the other hand I think with a little care S110V would be quite manageable. Hmmm... I am gone have to chew on this one for a while.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Very cool replies, thank you all :)

Yeah that is an interesting thought, bear, too: About human teeth. I was wondering recently, if a very rust-resistant steel like H1 or LC200N would make good dental tooth fillings or caps. The problem with using it for fillings is that in order to get it in there, the metal would have to be heated up. I could see H1 crowns or caps? I mean, it would be harder than metals like gold, and from a wear-resistance standpoint, would last longer?

I remember years ago a discussion about animals and metals in the bodies, between some molecular biology students. One of the interesting ideas that was brought up was this: In nature while we do see creatures that use metal oxides and carbonates we hardly ever see actual stand-alone metals being used because the oxygen tends to bond so strongly to them, and, the animals' biosystems need to be able to precipitate out the materials for the building of their shells, teeth, etc, at ambient/room temperatures and pressures using the enzymes.

It IS possible for humans to specially engineer special enzyme like machines that can do this with stuff like diamond and steel and other materials, but, that would have to be a special job.

What I found fascinating, and, to we knife-lovers, somewhat scary, was this: BACTERIA ABLE TO BREAK DOWN/EAT STEEL/IRON!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 38736.html

From the article:

" One of the specialist engineers tackling the problem said he was "horrified" by what he had seen. "The bacteria can go through sheet piling like a knife through butter," said Craig Donald, director of CorrOcean, in Aberdeen."

Goodness! Imagine the horror: You have a box or bag of prized knives stowed away...and some of these beasties get in there..and the next thing you know, its a bag of broken down steel.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Very cool replies, thank you all :)

Yeah that is an interesting thought, bear, too: About human teeth. I was wondering recently, if a very rust-resistant steel like H1 or LC200N would make good dental tooth fillings or caps. The problem with using it for fillings is that in order to get it in there, the metal would have to be heated up. I could see H1 crowns or caps? I mean, it would be harder than metals like gold, and from a wear-resistance standpoint, would last longer?

I remember years ago a discussion about animals and metals in the bodies, between some molecular biology students. One of the interesting ideas that was brought up was this: In nature while we do see creatures that use metal oxides and carbonates we hardly ever see actual stand-alone metals being used because the oxygen tends to bond so strongly to them, and, the animals' biosystems need to be able to precipitate out the materials for the building of their shells, teeth, etc, at ambient/room temperatures and pressures using the enzymes.

It IS possible for humans to specially engineer special enzyme like machines that can do this with stuff like diamond and steel and other materials, but, that would have to be a special job.

What I found fascinating, and, to we knife-lovers, somewhat scary, was this: BACTERIA ABLE TO BREAK DOWN/EAT STEEL/IRON!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 38736.html

From the article:

" One of the specialist engineers tackling the problem said he was "horrified" by what he had seen. "The bacteria can go through sheet piling like a knife through butter," said Craig Donald, director of CorrOcean, in Aberdeen."

Goodness! Imagine the horror: You have a box or bag of prized knives stowed away...and some of these beasties get in there..and the next thing you know, its a bag of broken down steel. We need some spray or material that resists these bacteria that can be sprayed on steel. I wonder if they could do that to steels like H1 or VG10 or LC200N?

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/09 ... 474303823/

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Oops Double post.

[Doc Dan]

No way would I want a steel filling. Have you ever bitten down on a piece of aluminum foil? OUCH!

[ImageX]

A human with metal teeth wouldn't go out and chomp on a car so I doubt a shark with metal teeth would chomp a ship's hull. Bears with metal teeth and claws still live in the woods, avoid humans, and eat the same stuff.

[Bloke]

I reckon animals with steel teeth and claws would be way cool. :cool:

I'd sell my guns and buy a you beauty electro magnet! :confused:

[OldHoosier62]

If animals had metal teeth and claws??? I would own several more larger caliber guns than I already do......Claws and teeth only work when the animal can get close enough to use them.

[VashHash]

Calcium is a metal....

[anagarika]

Calcium is a metal....

If my high school class memory is right, exactly. :cool:

[demoncase]

No way would I want a steel filling. Have you ever bitten down on a piece of aluminum foil? OUCH!

That's a tiny electric shock due to the aluminium foil, the amalgam filling and your saliva making a tiny. momentary, battery as they connect....rather than the 'shock' of impact I think you might have been thinking (If not, apologies!)

A steel filling wouldn't be any worse- but it wouldn't be better either :)

[demoncase]

It'd require a fundamental re-writing and re-evolution of life on Earth from the get go at the chemical building block level.

The human body (and indeed the body of all animals) is a nightmare scenario to engineer materials for- otherwise inert ceramics are attacked with aggression by the immune system creating sepsis and inflammation for reasons that we often can only theorise on- but the usual issue is 'surface energy'.

Evolving steel teeth in a mouthful of enzymes and water is not likely.....Unless we somehow magically evolved H1 teeth- so doubly unlikely.
Likewise with claws- Look at your nails. See all that soft tissue underneath? That's moist, salty and acidic. Steel nails aren't a good plan

The whole surface of the human body is slightly acidic and salty- as anyone owning an M4 knife will attest!
Whereas the blood is slightly basic- the reason being any bacteria adapted to the skin that find their way into bloodstream will be ill adapted and die....Implants tend to be very specific alloys of cobalt, titanium and silicone or ceramic supports.

Plus there's the evolutionary driver point- what 'arms race' would result in metal teeth or claws being advantageous and passed onto the next generation?....what kind of nightmare ecosystem would that be!
Plus- let's be clear- evolving a material that's actively attacked by the oxygen in the atmosphere isn't a winner.....It's into the realms of sci-fi otherworlds in an inert gas that the creatures of the world can breathe.

[The Mastiff]

like H1 or VG10 or LC200N?

Don't we have problems with some elements and metals? Nickel and chrome, for instance. I've heard of Tungsten shrapnel left in bodies after wounds causing cancer. I'm not sure at all what levels of stuff in us cause problems but there are some that will. Titanium is one that isn't all that bad, as is silver and gold. Platinum too? I'd have to do a lot more reading obviously.

Joe