Cox, P.G. orcid.org/0000-0001-9782-2358 and Watson, P.J. orcid.org/0000-0003-0220-2960 (2023) Masticatory biomechanics of red and grey squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris and Sciurus carolinensis) modelled with multibody dynamics analysis. Royal Society Open Science, 10 (2). ISSN 2054-5703
Abstract
The process of feeding in mammals is achieved by moving the mandible relative to the cranium to bring the teeth into and out of occlusion. This process is especially complex in rodents which have a highly specialized configuration of jaw adductor muscles. Here, we used the computational technique of multi-body dynamics analysis (MDA) to model feeding in the red (Sciurus vulgaris) and grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and determine the relative contribution of each jaw-closing muscle in the generation of bite forces. The MDA model simulated incisor biting at different gapes. A series of ‘virtual ablation experiments' were performed at each gape, whereby the activation of each bilateral pair of muscles was set to zero. The maximum bite force was found to increase at wider gapes. As predicted, the superficial and anterior deep masseter were the largest contributors to bite force, but the temporalis had only a small contribution. Further analysis indicated that the temporalis may play a more important role in jaw stabilization than in the generation of bite force. This study demonstrated the ability of MDA to elucidate details of red and grey squirrel feeding biomechanics providing a complement to data gathered via in vivo experimentation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | multi-body dynamics analysis, skull, masticatory muscles, bite force, red squirrel, grey squirrel |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (iMBE) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 22 Jan 2024 16:34 |
Last Modified: | 22 Jan 2024 16:34 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220587 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Royal Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rsos.220587 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:207773 |