The brachyodont teeth of okapi are like other paleotragines, but it has smaller incisors and larger cheek teeth.
The brachyodont cheek teeth and dolichocephalic skull of okapi are like those of other paleotragines. However, unlike its fossil relatives of the Palaeotraginae, Okapia johnstoni has slightly smaller permanent incisors, slightly larger permanent cheek teeth and the second upper deciduous molar lacks an external cingulum.
Okapi show a giraffe-like pattern in their teeth with a large gap between the incisors and the premolars. The dental formula is 0/3, 0/1, 3/3, 3/3, with a total of 32 teeth, consistent with all giraffids. The enamel is rough or wrinkled, like giraffes, and the deciduous and permanent canines are incisor-like and bilobate, lobed as are those of giraffes. The lobes are most obvious in the unworn teeth of calves. The incisors form a semicircle at the end of the lower jaw.
Sources: (Bodmer & Rabb, 1992; San Diego Zoo Global, 2017)
Image: Tambako the Jaguar
