ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2018
The biomechanics of foraging determines face length among kangaroos and their relatives.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Phylogenetic Inference from Atomized 3D Morphometric Data: A Case Study using Kangaroos.Systematic biology · 2026Article
- Hard-object feeding adaptations infer relative predator-prey size relationships in Devonian placoderms.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Testing hypotheses of skull function with comparative finite element analysis: three methods reveal contrasting results.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- Beyond CREA: Evolutionary patterns of non-allometric shape variation and divergence in a highly allometric clade of murine rodents.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Functionally mediated cranial allometry evidenced in a genus of rock-wallabies.Biology letters · 2024Article
- Differential developmental rates and demographics in Red Kangaroo (Journal of mammalogy · 2023Article
- Patterns of ontogenetic evolution across extant marsupials reflect different allometric pathways to ecomorphological diversity.Nature communications · 2023Article
- The pre-eminent role of directional selection in generating extreme morphological change in glyptodonts (Cingulata; Xenarthra).Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Article
- More Challenging Diets Sustain Feeding Performance: Applications Toward the Captive Rearing of Wildlife.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2021Article
- Skull shape of a widely distributed, endangered marsupial reveals little evidence of local adaptation between fragmented populations.Ecology and evolution · 2020Article
- Did the thylacine violate the costs of carnivory? Body mass and sexual dimorphism of an iconic Australian marsupial.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Individual variation of the masticatory system dominates 3D skull shape in the herbivory-adapted marsupial wombats.Frontiers in zoology · 2019Article
- The anatomy of a crushing bite: The specialised cranial mechanics of a giant extinct kangaroo.PloS one · 2019Article
- The biomechanics of foraging determines face length among kangaroos and their relatives.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Increasing body size is accompanied by facial elongation across a number of mammalian taxa. This trend forms the basis of a proposed evolutionary rule, cranial evolutionary allometry (CREA). However, facial length has also been widely associated with the varying mechanical resistance of foods. Here, we combine geometric morphometrics and computational biomechanical analyses to determine whether evolutionary allometry or feeding ecology have been dominant influences on facial elongation across 16 species of kangaroos and relatives (Macropodiformes). We found no support for an allometric trend. Nor was craniofacial morphology strictly defined by dietary categories, but rather associated with a combination of the mechanical properties of vegetation types and cropping behaviours used to access them. Among species examined here, shorter muzzles coincided with known diets of tough, resistant plant tissues, accessed via active slicing by the anterior dentition. This morphology consistently resulted in increased mechanical efficiency and decreased bone deformation during incisor biting. Longer muzzles, by contrast, aligned with softer foods or feeding behaviours invoking cervical musculature that circumvent the need for hard biting. These findings point to a potential for craniofacial morphology to predict feeding ecology in macropodiforms, which may be useful for species management planning and for inferring palaeoecology.
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