ArticleEcology and evolution2023
Armed to the teeth: The underestimated diversity in tooth shape in snakes and its relation to feeding behavior and diet.
Article in Ecology and evolution, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Heterodonty in the teeth of the turiasaurian sauropod from Angeac-Charente (Early Cretaceous, southwestern France): Comparison of anatomical and geometric morphometric approaches.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Clustering crocodylian dental morphology: Insights into functional adaptations, diet, and ontogeny.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Comparative dentition in free-living bird nest astigmatan mites.Experimental & applied acarology · 2025Review
- Article
- Sharpening our understanding of saber-tooth biomechanics.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Review
- How do roses build failure-resistant anchoring tools?PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Python tooth-inspired fixation device for enhanced rotator cuff repair.Science advances · 2024Article
- Article
- Many ways to build an angler: diversity of feeding morphologies in a deep-sea evolutionary radiation.Biology letters · 2023Article
- Armed to the teeth: The underestimated diversity in tooth shape in snakes and its relation to feeding behavior and diet.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
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8 authors.
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Abstract
The structure, composition, and shape of teeth have been related to dietary specialization in many vertebrate species, but comparative studies on snakes' teeth are lacking. Yet, snakes have diverse dietary habits that may impact the shape of their teeth. We hypothesize that prey properties, such as hardness and shape, as well as feeding behavior, such as aquatic or arboreal predation, or holding vigorous prey, impose constraints on the evolution of tooth shape in snakes. We compared the morphology of the dentary teeth of 63 species that cover the phylogenetic and dietary diversity of snakes, using 3D geometric morphometrics and linear measurements. Our results show that prey hardness, foraging substrate, and the main feeding mechanical challenge are important drivers of tooth shape, size, and curvature. Overall, long, slender, curved teeth with a thin layer of hard tissue are observed in species that need to maintain a grip on their prey. Short, stout, less curved teeth are associated with species that undergo high or repeated loads. Our study demonstrates the diversity of tooth morphology in snakes and the need to investigate its underlying functional implications to better understand the evolution of teeth in vertebrates.
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