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Full-Text Articles in Biological and Physical Anthropology
Fracture In Teeth—A Diagnostic For Inferring Bite Force And Tooth Function, Paul J. Constantino, Brian R. Lawn, James J.-W. Lee, Peter W. Lucas
Fracture In Teeth—A Diagnostic For Inferring Bite Force And Tooth Function, Paul J. Constantino, Brian R. Lawn, James J.-W. Lee, Peter W. Lucas
Biological Sciences Faculty Research
Teeth are brittle and highly susceptible to cracking. We propose that observations of such cracking can be used as a diagnostic tool for predicting bite force and inferring tooth function in living and fossil mammals. Laboratory tests on model tooth structures and extracted human teeth in simulated biting identify the principal fracture modes in enamel. Examination of museum specimens reveals the presence of similar fractures in a wide range of vertebrates, suggesting that cracks extended during ingestion or mastication. The use of ‘fracture mechanics’ from materials engineering provides elegant relations for quantifying critical bite forces in terms of characteristic tooth …
Indentation As A Technique To Assess The Mechanical Properties Of Fallback Foods, Peter W. Lucas, Paul J. Constantino, Janine Chalk, Charles Ziscovici, Barth W. Wright, Dorothy M. Fragaszy, David A. Hill, James Jin-Wu Lee, Herzl Chai, Brian W. Darvell, Tony D.B. Yuen
Indentation As A Technique To Assess The Mechanical Properties Of Fallback Foods, Peter W. Lucas, Paul J. Constantino, Janine Chalk, Charles Ziscovici, Barth W. Wright, Dorothy M. Fragaszy, David A. Hill, James Jin-Wu Lee, Herzl Chai, Brian W. Darvell, Tony D.B. Yuen
Biological Sciences Faculty Research
A number of living primates feed partyear on seemingly hard food objects as a fallback. We ask here how hardness can be quantified and how this can help understand primate feeding ecology. We report a simple indentation methodology for quantifying hardness, elastic modulus, and toughness in the sense that materials scientists would define them. Suggested categories of fallback foods—nuts, seeds, and root vegetables— were tested, with accuracy checked on standard materials with known properties by the same means. Results were generally consistent, but the moduli of root vegetables were overestimated here. All these properties are important components of what fieldworkers …