Changing views of evolutionary factors at work on earliest mammals
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - 02:31
in Biology & Nature
Using 3D-printed replicas of 200-million-year-old mammal teeth and polymers that mimic insect prey, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst this week provide the first laboratory-tested evidence that the ability for teeth to damage prey is a more significant factor driving evolutionary changes in tooth shape than either bite force or the animal's energy expenditure.