A quarter of carnivore teeth are chipped or cracked

Evidence

The luxury of careful chewing that we might experience while enjoying a fine steak at a French restaurant is rarely afforded to free-ranging top predators, who face constant and intense competition from rival predators attempting to steal their kills. So the reality is that animals must slash and crush fast, and in this real-world haste, mistakes get made. Blades get worn and teeth crack. A survey of both living and extinct carnivores shows an astonishing frequency of natural tooth breakage, with one out of every four teeth chipped, cracked, or shattered. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 93 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: One in four carnivore teeth is chipped, cracked, or shattered. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 93

Related

• One in four carnivore teeth is chipped, cracked, or shattered. (similarity 0.97)
• Mammals diversified teeth into separate tools to bypass trade-offs. (similarity 0.83)
• Mammals split teeth into specialized tools for each task (similarity 0.83)
• Differentiated teeth only work with careful, deliberate chewing. (similarity 0.81)
• One tooth shape cannot both pierce, shear, and crush bone. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• One in four carnivore teeth is chipped, cracked, or shattered. #corroborates (1.00) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 93