BIO3132 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Quokka, Dasyuridae, Fisherian Runaway
31 May 2018
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Week 11. Mammal Teeth and Semelparity
TEETH: TOOLS FOR FEEDING IN MAMMALS
Lecture objectives:
• Desie ai futios of teeth i aals
• Desie ipotae of tooth shape
• Desie ipotae of tooth opleit
• Outlie ajo feedig adaptatios i aopodids
• Teeth as tools:
o Key component in feeding
o Animals with different diets need different tools
o Tooth shape has large effect on feeding and usage
• Two major elements in tooth design:
Tool shape
o Shape of tools or tooth components
o Eg. lion = tall blades
o Eg. rhinoceros = enamel ridges, relatively flat, ridges come together when
eating
o Eg. giant panda = cusps = large mounds, mounds crash on valleys in opposing
teeth
o Cusp sharpness:
o Rake angle:
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o Approach angle:
o Capture area:
Tool number
o Number of tools on a tooth
o Dental complexity
o Dental complexity:
Foods vary in amount of mechanical processing required
Processing capability can be increased by increasing roughness of
complexity of tooth surface
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• Wear in bat teeth:
o Insectivore bats have complex tribosphenic teeth
o Rake angle declines with wear – approach angle improves
o 17 out of 31 functional factors decline
o Overall deterioration of function with wear
• Can measure dental complexity by doing a 3D can of tooth row
• Understanding animal diets using dental complexity
-the higher the OPC (higher complexity), the more food the tooth can process
-use OPC to compare between different animal groups
• Dental complexity is the same when diet is the same
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Document Summary
Tool number: number of tools on a tooth, dental complexity, dental complexity: Foods vary in amount of mechanical processing required. Processing capability can be increased by increasing roughness of complexity of tooth surface: wear in bat teeth: The higher the opc (higher complexity), the more food the tooth can process. Jaw: omnivores and browsers = flat tooth row, browsers and grazers = slightly curved tooth row and intermediate features, grazers = curved tooth row (concentrated contact area), molar progression. Dentition: omnivores = crushing molars, long blade like premolar (good for breaking big things, browsers = bilophodont molars, long blade like premolars. Intermediate feeders = bilophodont molars, greater wear on anterior teeth (combination of grass and leaves: grazers = strong midlink in molars, greater wear on anterior teeth. > conveyer belt of teeth from posterior of mouth: molar progression = continuous eruption of teeth. > antechinus are in much more unpredictable environment than iteroparous shrews in.
