Differentiation of the Developing Tooth of Egyptian Cobra, Naja haje (Squmata: Serpents: Elapidae) at the Hatching Stage

Vertebrates exhibit a great variety of dental patterns, from completely missing teeth to having several sets of teeth that are replaced over the course of a lifetime. Amniotes carrying teeth unlike other vertebrates have teeth only in the oral cavity and do not have pharyngeal teeth. The majority of what we know about tooth formation comes from research on a small number of model organisms. Furthermore, there are insufficient studies in the literature that provide a detailed description of Naja haje's tooth formation at the hatching stage. Thus, we introduce this study as a part of the descriptive work on reptilian dentition. As an additional model, we detailed the tooth formation of a hatching Naja haje snake by using serial sections through the head. The histology of these sections demonstrated the histodifferentiation of both ameloblast and odontoblast cells at different developmental stages. All stages of tooth development; dental lamina, bud, cap, bell, implantation, and eruption have been completed. When N. haje hatches, its teeth are fully grown and inserted into the corresponding bones.