Dental topographic proxies for ecological characteristics in carnivoran mammals.

ABSTRACT: Form-function relationships in mammalian feeding systems are active topics of research in evolutionary biology. This is due principally to their fundamental importance for understanding dietary adaptations in extinct taxa and macro-evolutionary patterns of morphological transformations through changing environments. We hypothesize that three-dimensional dental topographic metrics represent stronger predictors for dietary and other ecological variables than do linear measurements. To test this hypothesis, we measured three dental topographic metrics: Relief Index (RFI), Dirichlet Normal Energy (DNE), and Orientation Patch Count Rotated (OPCR) in 57 extant carnivoran species. Premolar and molar dental topographic indices were regressed against activity, diet breadth, habitat breadth, terrest

SUBMITTER: Waldman E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10008270 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature