We investigated patterns of jaw-muscle coordination during rhythmic mastication in three species of ungulates displaying the marked transverse jaw movements typical of many large mammalian herbivores. In order to quantify consistent motor patterns…
Arboreal primates actively navigate a complex thermal environment that exhibits spatial, daily, and seasonal temperature changes. Thus, temperature measurements from stationary recording devices in or near a forest likely do not reflect the thermal…
In vivo studies, of jaw-muscle behavior have been integral factors in the development of our current understanding of the primate masticatory apparatus. However, even though it has been shown that food textures and mechanical properties influence…
We lack a general understanding of how primates perform physiologically during feeding to cope with the challenges of their natural environments. We here discuss several methods for studying the ecological physiology of feeding in mantled howlers…
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…
The Feeding Experiments End-user Database (FEED) is a research tool developed by the Mammalian Feeding Working Group at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center that permits synthetic, evolutionary analyses of the physiology of mammalian feeding.…
It was proposed that the power stroke in primates has two distinct periods of occlusal contact, each with a characteristic motion of the mandibular molars relative to the maxillary molars. The two movements are called phase I and phase IT, and they…
Non-human primates demonstrate food preferences much like humans. We have little insight, however, into how those preferences impact oral processing in primates. To begin describing this relationship, we conducted a preliminary analysis measuring…
Three sympatric Hapalemur species (H. g. griseus, H. aureus, and H. (Prolemur) simus) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar are known to eat bamboo food parts that contain cyanide. How these lemurs avoid cyanide poisoning remains unknown. In this…
Resource distribution shapes many aspects of primate behavioral ecology. Though the spatial patterning of fruits, leaves, and insects has been explored among primate foods, comparatively less is known about exudate distributions. Tree exudates are a…
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…
The objective of the study was to understand how physical and structural properties of food translate into sensory perception. A range of gels with different structures were developed by combined mechanisms of ion-induced micro-phase separation of…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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 jaw muscles play key functional roles during feeding. During contraction, a bioelectrical signal propagates along the muscle cell helping to coordinate muscle contraction. This signal can be measured via electromyography (EMG). Food scientists…
