Even though in vivo studies of mastication in living primates are often used to test functional and adaptive hypotheses explaining primate masticatory behavior, we currently have little data addressing how experimental procedures performed in the…
Dental microwear analysis has been employed in studies of a wide range of modern and fossil animals, yielding many insights into the biology/ecology of those taxa. Paleoanthropological studies have produced both expected and unexpected results (e.g.,…
The jaw-closing muscles are responsible for generating many of the forces and movements associated with feeding. Muscle physiologic cross-sectional area (PCSA) and fiber length are two architectural parameters that heavily influence muscle function.…
Tufted capuchins (sensu lato) are renowned for their dietary flexibility and capacity to exploit hard and tough objects. Cebus apella differs from other capuchins in displaying a suite of craniodental features that have been functionally and…
Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) (Callitrichidae, Primates) share a broadly similar diet of fruits, insects, and tree exudates. Common marmosets, however, differ from tamarins by actively gouging trees…
Common (Callithrix jacchus) and pygmy (Cebuella pygmaea) marmosets and cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) share broadly similar diets of fruits, insects, and tree exudates. Marmosets, however, differ from tamarins in actively gouging trees with…
Several bony and soft tissue structures of the callitrichid masticatory apparatus have been studied to understand how gouging behavior in marmosets is facilitated by specific morphologies. While marmoset craniofacial anatomy indicates features that…
The relationship between mandibular form and biomechanical function is a topic of significant interest to morphologists and paleontologists alike. Several previous studies have examined the morphology of the mandible in gouging and nongouging…
The proliferation of geometric morphometrics (GM) in biological anthropology and more broadly throughout the biological sciences has resulted in a multitude of studies that adopt landmark-based approaches for addressing a variety of questions in…
Food oral processing includes all muscle activities, jaw movements, and tongue movements that contribute to preparing food for swallowing. Simultaneously, during the transformation of food structure to a bolus, a cognitive representation of food…
Hardness and rubberiness are distinct textural properties that are associated with extended oral processing times and therefore of interest to designing food structure for specific textural properties. Model food gels were developed with (1)…
The major purpose of this study is to analyze anterior and posterior temporalis muscle force recruitment and firing patterns in various anthropoid and strepsirrhine primates. There are two specific goals for this project. First, we test the…
Jaw-muscle electromyographic (EMG) patterns indicate that compared with thick-tailed galagos and ring-tailed lemurs, anthropoids recruit more relative EMG from their balancing-side deep masseter, and that this muscle peaks late in the power stroke.…
Although all genera of Callitrichinae feed on tree exudates, marmosets (Callithrix and Cebuella) use specialized anterior teeth to gouge holes in trees and actively stimulate exudate flow. Behavioral studies demonstrate that marmosets use large jaw…
