10.5061/DRYAD.1B52S
Tseng, Zhijie Jack
American Museum of Natural History
Flynn, John J.
American Museum of Natural History
Data from: Are cranial biomechanical simulation data linked to known diets
in extant taxa? A method for applying diet-biomechanics linkage models to
infer feeding capability of extinct species
Dryad
dataset
2016
Paleogene
Neogene
Carnivora
Canis mesomelas
Parahyaena brunnea
ecomorphology
Oodectes herpestoides
Finite element analysis
Crocuta crocuta
Ursus maritimus
Geometric Morphometrics Analysis
Mephitis mephitis
Procyon lotor
Lycaon pictus
Herpestes javanicus
Ursus arctos
Panthera pardus
Theoretical morphology
Carnivoramorpha
Thinocyon velox
Canis lupus
2016-04-02T00:00:00Z
2016-04-02T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124020
703728739 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Performance of the masticatory system directly influences feeding and
survival, so adaptive hypotheses often are proposed to explain
craniodental evolution via functional morphology changes. However, the
prevalence of “many-to-one” association of cranial forms and functions in
vertebrates suggests a complex interplay of ecological and evolutionary
histories, resulting in redundant morphology-diet linkages. Here we
examine the link between cranial biomechanical properties for taxa with
different dietary preferences in crown clade Carnivora, the most diverse
clade of carnivorous mammals. We test whether hypercarnivores and
generalists can be distinguished based on cranial mechanical simulation
models, and how such diet-biomechanics linkages relate to morphology.
Comparative finite element and geometric morphometrics analyses document
that predicted bite force is positively allometric relative to skull
strain energy; this is achieved in part by increased stiffness in larger
skull models and shape changes that resist deformation and displacement.
Size-standardized strain energy levels do not reflect feeding preferences;
instead, caniform models have higher strain energy than feliform models.
This caniform-feliform split is reinforced by a sensitivity analysis using
published models for six additional taxa. Nevertheless, combined bite
force-strain energy curves distinguish hypercarnivorous versus generalist
feeders. These findings indicate that the link between cranial
biomechanical properties and carnivoran feeding preference can be clearly
defined and characterized, despite phylogenetic and allometric effects.
Application of this diet-biomechanics linkage model to an analysis of an
extinct stem carnivoramorphan and an outgroup creodont species provides
biomechanical evidence for the evolution of taxa into distinct
hypercarnivorous and generalist feeding styles prior to the appearance of
crown carnivoran clades with similar feeding preferences.
Canis_lupus_FE_modelsCanis_mesomelas_FE_modelsCrocuta_crocuta_FE_modelsHerpestes_javanicus_FE_modelsLycaon_pictus_FE_modelsMephitis_mephitis_FE_modelsOodectes_herpestoides_FE_modelsPanthera_pardus_FE_modelsParahyaena_brunnea_FE_modelsProcyon_lotor_FE_modelsThinocyon_lotor_FE_modelsUrsus_arctos_FE_modelsUrsus_maritimus_FE_models
Africa
North America