Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Considerable research on the scaling of loading patterns in mammalian locomotor systems has not been accompanied by a similarly comprehensive analysis of the interspecific scaling of loading regimes in the mammalian masticatory complex. To address this deficiency, we analyzed mandibular corpus bone strain in 11 mammalian taxa varying in body size by over 2.5 orders of magnitude, including goats, horses, alpacas, pigs, and seven primate taxa. During alert chewing and biting of hard/tough foods, bone-strain data were collected with rosette gauges placed along the lateral aspect of the mandibular corpus below the molars or premolars. Bone-strain data were used to characterize relevant masticatory loading parameters: peak loading magnitudes, chewing cycle duration, chewing frequency, occlusal duty factor, loading rate, and loading time. Interspecific analyses indicate that much as observed in limb elements, corpus peak-strain magnitudes are similar across mammals of disparate body sizes. Chewing frequency is inversely correlated with body size, much as with locomotor stride frequency. Some of this allometric variation in chewing frequency appears to be due to a negative correlation with loading time, which increases with body size. Similar to the locomotor apparatus, occlusal duty factor, or the duration of the chewing cycle during which the corpus is loaded, does not vary with body size. Peak principal-strain magnitudes are most strongly positively correlated with loading rate and only secondarily with loading, with this complex relationship best described by a multiple regression equation with an interaction term between loading rate and loading time. In addition to informing interpretations of craniomandibular growth, form, function, and allometry, these comparisons provide a skeleton-wide perspective on the patterning of osteogenic stimuli across body sizes.
Source: The Anatomical Record
DOI: 10.1002/ar.21133
Institutions: University of Missouri, University of Chicago, Ohio University
Language: English
Subfield: Urology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: Craniofacial Biomechanics of Primates, Craniofacial Biomechanics of Primates, TMJ FUNCTION AND MECHANICS--EXPERIMENTAL MODELS, Craniofacial Biomechanics in Camelids: In vivo and Comparative Studies in Form and Function, G1844757719, STRESS ANALYSIS OF THE POST ORIBITAL BAR IN PRIMATES, G1861594329, G2068550825, G336527271, DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Symphyseal Fusion in Ungulates and Anthropoids: A Case of Functional Convergence?, Animal models for TMJ research: Functional 3-D loading, G9000283630
OpenAlex ID: W2094321646