Differentiated teeth only work with careful, deliberate chewing.
Evidence
By uncoupling the shapes and functions of particular subsets of teeth, carnivores became incredibly successful and specialized hunters. But this solution was far from perfect, and the fundamental limitations of these trade-offs remain. Canines, premolars, and molars are all still housed side by side in the same jaw, which is rather like opening all the tools in a Swiss Army knife at the same time. This means that their distinct functions can only be utilized by careful chewing, positioning bone over the dome-shaped molars, sinew and meat over the bladelike premolars, and keeping the canines out of the way. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 92
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Mammals diversified teeth into separate tools to bypass trade-offs. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 89
Related
- Mammals diversified teeth into separate tools to bypass trade-offs. (similarity 0.94)
- Mammals split teeth into specialized tools for each task (similarity 0.88)
- One in four carnivore teeth is chipped, cracked, or shattered. (similarity 0.84)
- One tooth shape cannot both pierce, shear, and crush bone. (similarity 0.83)
- Lacking specialized teeth, theropods never diversified ecologically like mammals. (similarity 0.81)
- A quarter of carnivore teeth are chipped or cracked (similarity 0.81)
- Wolves evolved dual-purpose teeth and pack tactics to subdue oversized prey (similarity 0.80)
- Dinosaurs never diversified weapon styles the way mammals did (similarity 0.79)
- Sabertooths’ massive canines required body changes that made movement awkward. (similarity 0.79)