ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2023
A switch in jaw form-function coupling during the evolution of mammals.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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16 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional anatomy, jaw mechanisms, and feeding behavior of Dunkleosteus terrelli (Placodermi, Arthrodira).Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- The relationship between form and function of the carnivore mandible.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- A perspective from the Mesozoic: Evolutionary changes of the mammalian skull and their influence on feeding efficiency and high-frequency hearing.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Review
- Brawn before bite in endemic Asian eutherian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction.eLife · 2026Article
- Beyond mammals: the evolution of chewing and other forms of oropharyngeal food processing in vertebrates.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Functional trade-offs and innovation shape the adaptive landscape of aquatic mammal feeding.iScience · 2026Article
- Biomechanics of the mandibular middle ear of the cynodontProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Constraints and adaptations in crocodyliform skull evolution.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- The Carnivoran Adaptive Landscape Reveals Trade-offs among Functional Traits in the Skull, Appendicular, and Axial Skeleton.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Optimal Gearing of Musculoskeletal Systems.Integrative and comparative biology · 2024Article
- A new biomechanical model of the mammal jaw based on load path analysis.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- Widespread convergence towards functional optimization in the lower jaws of crocodile-line archosaurs.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Opportunities and Challenges in Applying AI to Evolutionary Morphology.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
- Relationship between tooth macrowear and jaw morphofunctional traits in representative hypercarnivores.PeerJ · 2024Article
- A switch in jaw form-function coupling during the evolution of mammals.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- The mammalian skull: development, structure and function.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The evolutionary shift from a single-element ear, multi-element jaw to a multi-element ear, single-element jaw during the transition to crown mammals marks one of the most dramatic structural transformations in vertebrates. Research on this transformation has focused on mammalian middle-ear evolution, but a mandible comprising only the dentary is equally emblematic of this evolutionary radiation. Here, we show that the remarkably diverse jaw shapes of crown mammals are coupled with surprisingly stereotyped jaw stiffness. This strength-based morphofunctional regime has a genetic basis and allowed mammalian jaws to effectively resist deformation as they radiated into highly disparate forms with markedly distinct diets. The main functional consequences for the mandible of decoupling hearing and mastication were a trade-off between higher jaw stiffness versus decreased mechanical efficiency and speed compared with non-mammals. This fundamental and consequential shift in jaw form-function underpins the ecological and taxonomic diversification of crown mammals. This article is part of the theme issue 'The mammalian skull: development, structure and function'.
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