Hyena jaws trade closing speed for crushing power
Evidence
Hyenas also hunt in packs, but their jaws are very different from those of wolves. Hyena canines are relatively short, and their molars have lost the “dual-purpose” functionality of their ancestors. The slicing edges of hyena molars are gone. Hyenas are bone crushers who feed primarily on marrow, and their teeth are wide and strong with rounded, dome-shaped caps. Their faces and jaws are squat, giving their teeth a huge mechanical advantage. It’s basic physics: the nearer an applied force is to the joint of a lever, the stronger it will be. Teeth on short jaws aren’t anchored very far from their hinges, resulting in slow speeds but powerful closing forces (contrast this with wolves, where canines positioned at the ends of long jaws snap shut faster, but without as much force). In hyenas, jaw-closing speed appears to have been traded for increased closing force. They have a tremendously powerful bite, and because of the shapes of their teeth, they use this bite for cracking bone rather than puncturing or slicing flesh. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 75 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Hyena jaw geometry trades closing speed for bone-crushing force — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 75; Jaw length trades bite force against bite speed across carnivore species.
Related
- Hyena jaw geometry trades closing speed for bone-crushing force (similarity 0.97)
- Jaw length trades bite force against bite speed across carnivore species. (similarity 0.93)
- Jaw shape trades off between bite force and bite speed (similarity 0.93)
- Mammals split teeth into specialized tools for each task (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Hyena jaw geometry trades closing speed for bone-crushing force
#corroborates(0.95) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 75 - Jaw length trades bite force against bite speed across carnivore species.
#expands(0.85)