ArticlePeerJ2020
Comparative masticatory myology in anteaters and its implications for interpreting morphological convergence in myrmecophagous placentals.
Article in PeerJ, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quantitative assessment of masticatory muscles based on skull muscle attachment areas in Carnivora.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- Anatomical description of the jaw muscles and theoretical bite force assessment in South American opossums using manual and digital dissection methods.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Beyond mammals: the evolution of chewing and other forms of oropharyngeal food processing in vertebrates.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Pseudogenes document protracted parallel regression of oral anatomy in myrmecophagous mammals.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- How is the third jaw joint in whales different? Diverse modes of articulation between the jaws of whales.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
- The sphenomandibularis shown on P45 sheet plastination and dissection.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic Data Reveal Divergent Paths of Chitinase Evolution Underlying Dietary Convergence in Anteaters and Pangolins.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Metagenomics uncovers dietary adaptations for chitin digestion in the gut microbiota of convergent myrmecophagous mammals.mSystems · 2023Article
- Flexible conservatism in the skull modularity of convergently evolved myrmecophagous placental mammals.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Hind foot drumming: Volumetric micro-computed tomography investigation of the hind limb musculature of three African mole-rat species (Bathyergidae).Journal of anatomy · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEcological adaptations of mammals are reflected in the morphological diversity of their feeding apparatus, which includes differences in tooth crown morphologies, variation in snout size, or changes in muscles of the feeding apparatus. The adaptability of their feeding apparatus allowed them to optimize resource exploitation in a wide range of habitats. The combination of computer-assisted X-ray microtomography (µ-CT) with contrast-enhancing staining protocols has bolstered the reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) models of muscles. This new approach allows for accurate descriptions of muscular anatomy, as well as the quick measurement of muscle volumes and fiber orientation. Ant- and termite-eating (myrmecophagy) represents a case of extreme feeding specialization, which is usually accompanied by tooth reduction or complete tooth loss, snout elongation, acquisition of a long vermiform tongue, and loss of the zygomatic arch. Many of these traits evolved independently in distantly-related mammalian lineages. Previous reports on South American anteaters (Vermilingua) have shown major changes in the masticatory, intermandibular, and lingual muscular apparatus. These changes have been related to a functional shift in the role of upper and lower jaws in the evolutionary context of their complete loss of teeth and masticatory ability.
methodsWe used an iodine staining solution (I
resultsWe found that pygmy anteaters (
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.