Food mechanical properties and dietary ecology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8317465 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael A Berthaume (0000-0003-1298-242X, Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Deutscher Platz 6 Leipzig 04103 Germany, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 159 |
| Issue | S61 |
| Pages | 79-104 |
| Publication date | 2016-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ajpa.22903 |
| PMID | 26808100 |
| OpenAlex | W2262632134 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 175 |
Interdisciplinary research has benefitted the fields of anthropology and engineering for decades: a classic example being the application of material science to the field of feeding biomechanics. However, after decades of research, discordances have developed in how mechanical properties are defined, measured, calculated, and used due to disharmonies between and within fields. This is highlighted by "toughness," or energy release rate, the comparison of incomparable tests (i.e., the scissors and wedge tests), and the comparison of incomparable metrics (i.e., the stress and displacement-limited indices). Furthermore, while material scientists report on a myriad of mechanical properties, it is common for feeding biomechanics studies to report on just one (energy release rate) or two (energy release rate and Young's modulus), which may or may not be the most appropriate for understanding feeding mechanics. Here, I review portions of materials science important to feeding biomechanists, discussing some of the basic assumptions, tests, and measurements. Next, I provide an overview of what is mechanically important during feeding, and discuss the application of mechanical property tests to feeding biomechanics. I also explain how 1) toughness measures gathered with the scissors, wedge, razor, and/or punch and die tests on non-linearly elastic brittle materials are not mechanical properties, 2) scissors and wedge tests are not comparable and 3) the stress and displacement-limited indices are not comparable. Finally, I discuss what data gathered thus far can be best used for, and discuss the future of the field, urging researchers to challenge underlying assumptions in currently used methods to gain a better understanding between primate masticatory morphology and diet.
Biology · Feeding behavior · Zoology · Ecology · Meat and Animal Product Quality · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease · Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods
Toughness of the Virunga mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei ) diet across an altitudinal gradient
Investigating the dental toolkit of primates based on food mechanical properties
Fruit Selectivity in Anthropoid Primates
The role of leaf toughness on foraging efficiency in Angola black and white colobus monkeys ( Colobus angolensis palliatus )
Variation in human gape cycle kinematics and occlusal topography
Feeding ecology of the last European colobine monkey, Dolichopithecus ruscinensis
Was Mesopithecus a seed eating colobine? Assessment of cracking, grinding and shearing ability using dental topography
Symposium on food properties and primates
Extant ape dental topography and its implications for reconstructing the emergence of early Homo
The landscape of tooth shape
Factors influencing cranial variation between prehistoric Japanese forager populations
Dental topography and the diet of Homo naledi
Comparative biomechanics of Australopithecus sediba mandibles
Preference and consequences
Biomechanics in anthropology
Baboon biogeography, divergence, and evolution
Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) use cleavers and anvils to fracture Treculia africana fruits? Preliminary data on a new form of percussive technology
Skeletal Tissue Mechanics
Dental Functional Morphology
Bones
Mechanisms and causes of wear in tooth enamel
Dental Microwear and Diet of the Plio-Pleistocene Hominin Paranthropus boisei
The feeding biomechanics and dietary ecology of Australopithecus africanus
Gene Ontology
Mechanical Properties of Plant Underground Storage Organs and Implications for Dietary Models of Early Hominins
Diet of Paranthropus boisei in the early Pleistocene of East Africa
Incisor Size and Diet in Anthropoids with Special Reference to Cercopithecidae
The significance of fibrous foods for Kibale Forest chimpanzees
Hard-Object Feeding in Sooty Mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) and Interpretation of Early Hominin Feeding Ecology
The Hadza
Relationship of incisor size to diet and anterior tooth use in sympatric sumatran anthropoids
What did Hadropithecus eat, and why should paleoanthropologists care
Physical properties of palm fruits processed with tools by wild bearded capuchins ( Cebus libidinosus )
Mechanical properties of foods used in experimental studies of primate masticatory function
How the physical properties of food influence its selection by infant Japanese macaques inhabiting a snow‐covered area
Bearded saki feeding strategies on an island in Lago Guri, Venezuela
Fracture toughness of mountain gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla beringei ) food plants
Tooth use and the physical properties of food
The Evolution of Zinjanthropus boisei
Seed handling in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius)
Functional dental correlates of food properties in five Malagasy lemur species
Enamel thickness and microstructure in pitheciin primates, with comments on dietary adaptations of the middle Miocene hominoid Kenyapithecus
Reconstructing the Diet of an Extinct Hominin Taxon
Diets of Two Lemur Species in Different Microhabitats in Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar
Primate Faunivores
Measuring the Toughness of Primate Foods and its Ecological Value
Sympatric Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in Loango National Park, Gabon
Physical and chemical properties of fruit and seeds eaten byPithecia andChiropotes in Surinam and Venezuela
It’s Tough Out There
Brief communication
Patterns of ingestive behavior and anterior tooth use differences in sympatric anthropoid primates
Fallback foraging as a way of life
Food procurement and tooth use in two sympatric lemur species
Maximum ingested food size in captive strepsirrhine primates
Exudativory in the Asian loris, Nycticebus
The nut‐crackers – a new theory of the adaptations of the Ramapithecinae
What is dental ecology
The influence of experimental manipulations on chewing speed during in vivo laboratory research in tufted capuchins ( Cebus apella )
Comparing apples and oranges—the influence of food mechanical properties on ingestive bite sizes in lemurs
Viewpoints
Dental evidence for the diets of Plio‐Pleistocene hominins
Mechanical Defenses in Leaves Eaten by Costa Rican Howling Monkeys (Alouatta palliata)
Indentation as a technique to assess the mechanical properties of fallback foods
Masseter electromyography during chewing in ring‐tailed lemurs ( Lemur catta )
Seed‐breaking forces exerted by orang‐utans with their teeth in captivity and a new technique for estimating forces produced in the Wild
Foraging and ranging behavior during a fallback episode
Food mechanical properties in three sympatric species of Hapalemur in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar
Hardness as a basis of fruit choice in two sympatric primates
Intra‐ and interspecific variation in macaque molar enamel thickness
Comparing Dirichlet normal surface energy of tooth crowns, a new technique of molar shape quantification for dietary inference, with previous methods in isolation and in combination
Functional implications of squamosal suture size in paranthropus boisei
Food transport through the anterior oral cavity in macaques
Effects of dietary fracture toughness and dental wear on chewing efficiency in geladas ( T heropithecus gelada )
Hardness of cercopithecine foods
Maximum ingested food size in captive anthropoids
Viewpoints
Brief communication
Dental topography of platyrrhines and prosimians
Relief index of second mandibular molars is a correlate of diet among prosimian primates and other euarchontan mammals
Functional ecology and evolution of hominoid molar enamel thickness
A comparison of cortical elastic properties in the craniofacial skeletons of three primate species and its relevance to the study of human evolution
Food material properties and mandibular load resistance abilities in large-bodied hominoids
Jaw-muscle fiber architecture in tufted capuchins favors generating relatively large muscle forces without compromising jaw gape
Incisal orientation and biting efficiency
Ecological consequences of scaling of chew cycle duration and daily feeding time in Primates
Food material properties and early hominin processing techniques
Dental microwear texture analysis and diet in the Dmanisi hominins
Food mechanical properties, feeding ecology, and the mandibular morphology of wild orangutans
| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,6 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2024 (9) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |