ArticleBMC biology2021
A universal power law for modelling the growth and form of teeth, claws, horns, thorns, beaks, and shells.
Article in BMC biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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18 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trade-offs in mechanical performance influence the diversity of fangs, stingers, and spines.Science advances · 2026Article
- The geometry of Nature's stingers is universal due to stochastic mechanical wear.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Sharpening our understanding of saber-tooth biomechanics.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Review
- Bending performance changes during prolonged canine eruption in saber-toothed carnivores: A case study of Smilodon fatalis.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Article
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- Genetic Correlations Among Dental, Mandibular, and Postcranial Dimensions in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta).American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- The cultural macroevolution of arcade video games: innovation, collaboration, and collapse.Evolutionary human sciences · 2025Article
- How do roses build failure-resistant anchoring tools?PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Being thin-skinned can still reduce damage from dynamic puncture.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024Article
- Python tooth-inspired fixation device for enhanced rotator cuff repair.Science advances · 2024Article
- Asymmetry between the dorsal and ventral digging valves of the female locust: function and mechanics.BMC biology · 2024Article
- The shape of Nature's stingers revealed.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Is a blunt sword pointless? Tooth wear impacts puncture performance in Tasmanian devil canines.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- Selectively advantageous instability in biotic and pre-biotic systems and implications for evolution and aging.Frontiers in aging · 2024Review
- Morphological quantification of the maxillary canine tooth in the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris).Annals of anatomy = Anatomischer Anzeiger : official organ of the Anatomische Gesellschaft · 2023Article
- Ecological signal in the size and shape of marine amniote teeth.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA major goal of evolutionary developmental biology is to discover general models and mechanisms that create the phenotypes of organisms. However, universal models of such fundamental growth and form are rare, presumably due to the limited number of physical laws and biological processes that influence growth. One such model is the logarithmic spiral, which has been purported to explain the growth of biological structures such as teeth, claws, horns, and beaks. However, the logarithmic spiral only describes the path of the structure through space, and cannot generate these shapes.
resultsHere we show a new universal model based on a power law between the radius of the structure and its length, which generates a shape called a 'power cone'. We describe the underlying 'power cascade' model that explains the extreme diversity of tooth shapes in vertebrates, including humans, mammoths, sabre-toothed cats, tyrannosaurs and giant megalodon sharks. This model can be used to predict the age of mammals with ever-growing teeth, including elephants and rodents. We view this as the third general model of tooth development, along with the patterning cascade model for cusp number and spacing, and the inhibitory cascade model that predicts relative tooth size. Beyond the dentition, this new model also describes the growth of claws, horns, antlers and beaks of vertebrates, as well as the fangs and shells of invertebrates, and thorns and prickles of plants.
conclusionsThe power cone is generated when the radial power growth rate is unequal to the length power growth rate. The power cascade model operates independently of the logarithmic spiral and is present throughout diverse biological systems. The power cascade provides a mechanistic basis for the generation of these pointed structures across the tree of life.
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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.