Chewed out: an experimental link between food material properties and repetitive loading of the masticatory apparatus in mammals.

ABSTRACT: Using a model organism (rabbits) that resembles a number of mammalian herbivores in key aspects of its chewing behaviors, we examined how variation in dietary mechanical properties affects food breakdown during mastication. Such data have implications for understanding phenotypic variation in the mammalian feeding apparatus, particularly with respect to linking jaw form to diet-induced repetitive loading. Results indicate that chewing frequency (chews/s) is independent of food properties, whereas chewing investment (chews/g) and chewing duration(s), which are proportional to repetitive loading of the jaws, are positively related to food stiffness and toughness. In comparisons of displacement-limited and stress-limited fragmentation indices, which respectively characterize the intraoral bre

SUBMITTER: Ravosa MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4636421 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature