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.…
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…
Recent morphometric analyses have led to dissimilar conclusions about whether the jaws of tree-gouging primates are designed to resist the purportedly large forces generated during this biting behavior. We further address this question by comparing…
A realistic understanding of primate morphological adaptations requires a multidisciplinary approach including experimental studies of physiological performance and field studies documenting natural behaviors and reproductive success. For primate…
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…
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…
The goal of this study is to clarify the functional and biomechanical relationship between jaw morphology and in vivo masticatory loading in selenodont artiodactyls. We compare in vivo strains from the mandibular corpus of goats and alpacas to…
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…
In vivo laboratory-based studies describing jaw-muscle activity and mandibular bone strain during mastication provide the empirical basis for most evolutionary hypotheses linking primate masticatory apparatus form to diet. However, the laboratory…
We investigated mechanical dietary properties of sympatric bamboo lemurs, Hapalemur g. griseus, H. aureus, and H. (Prolemur) simus, in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. Each lemur species relies on bamboo, though previous behavioral observations…
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.…
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…
