Evidence of strong stabilizing effects on the evolution of boreoeutherian (Mammalia) dental proportions.

ABSTRACT: The dentition is an extremely important organ in mammals with variation in timing and sequence of eruption, crown morphology, and tooth size enabling a range of behavioral, dietary, and functional adaptations across the class. Within this suite of variable mammalian dental phenotypes, relative sizes of teeth reflect variation in the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms. Two ratios of postcanine tooth lengths capture the relative size of premolars to molars (premolar-molar module, PMM), and among the three molars (molar module component, MMC), and are known to be heritable, independent of body size, and to vary significantly across primates. Here, we explore how these dental traits vary across mammals more broadly, focusing on terrestrial taxa in the clade of Boreoeutheria (Euarc

SUBMITTER: Monson TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6635932 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature