Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Ziscovici C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4272202 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Ziscovici Charles C Lucas Peter W PW Constantino Paul J PJ Bromage Timothy G TG van Casteren Adam A
Biology letters 20141001 10
Dental enamel is prone to damage by chipping with large hard objects at forces that depend on chip size and enamel toughness. Experiments on modern human teeth have suggested that some ante-mortem chips on fossil hominin enamel were produced by bite forces near physiological maxima. Here, we show that equivalent chips in sea otter enamel require even higher forces than human enamel. Increased fracture resistance correlates with more intense enamel prism decussation, often seen also in some fossi ...[more]