We have all lost a tooth at some point in life. Do you remember how different it was to eat with a tooth missing, especially one of your molars in the back? Imagine what it is like for the elephant, the largest animal on land, to eat a diet of leaves, stems and roots—with only four teeth! These four teeth are all molars, which are used for grinding food. Each tooth is 12 inches long and can weigh more than 11 pounds. There are two molars located in the front of the mouth; over time, these teeth wear down and fall out. The two molars in the back move forward to be used, and two more molars emerge to replace the ones that moved forward.

Elephants’ back molars are replaced a total of six times in their lifetime. Once the last set of molars wears down, which could be between 40 to 60 years of age (making the elephant one of the longest-living mammals), an elephant can no longer chew its food. This leads to starvation, which is a common cause of death among elephants.

How awesome it is that God created animals like the elephant (weighing between 4,000 to 15,400 pounds, depending on the species) to survive with only four teeth!