Smith Amanda L, Benazzi Stefano, Ledogar Justin A, Tamvada Kelli, Pryor Smith Leslie C, Weber Gerhard W, Spencer Mark A, Lucas Peter W, Michael Shaji, Shekeban Ali, Al-Fadhalah Khaled, Almusallam Abdulwahab S, Dechow Paul C, Grosse Ian R, Ross Callum F, Madden Richard H, Richmond Brian G, Wright Barth W, Wang Qian, Byron Craig, Slice Dennis E, Wood Sarah, Dzialo Christine, Berthaume Michael A, van Casteren Adam, Strait David S
Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, Albany, New York.
Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2015 Jan;298(1):145-67. doi: 10.1002/ar.23073.
The African Plio-Pleistocene hominins known as australopiths evolved derived craniodental features frequently interpreted as adaptations for feeding on either hard, or compliant/tough foods. Among australopiths, Paranthropus boisei is the most robust form, exhibiting traits traditionally hypothesized to produce high bite forces efficiently and strengthen the face against feeding stresses. However, recent mechanical analyses imply that P. boisei may not have been an efficient producer of bite force and that robust morphology in primates is not necessarily strong. Here we use an engineering method, finite element analysis, to show that the facial skeleton of P. boisei is structurally strong, exhibits a strain pattern different from that in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and Australopithecus africanus, and efficiently produces high bite force. It has been suggested that P. boisei consumed a diet of compliant/tough foods like grass blades and sedge pith. However, the blunt occlusal topography of this and other species suggests that australopiths are adapted to consume hard foods, perhaps including grass and sedge seeds. A consideration of evolutionary trends in morphology relating to feeding mechanics suggests that food processing behaviors in gracile australopiths evidently were disrupted by environmental change, perhaps contributing to the eventual evolution of Homo and Paranthropus.
被称为南方古猿的非洲上新世-更新世古人类进化出了独特的颅齿特征，这些特征通常被解释为对食用坚硬或柔软/坚韧食物的适应。在南方古猿中，鲍氏傍人是最为粗壮的种类，具有一些传统上被认为能有效产生高咬合力并强化面部以抵御进食压力的特征。然而，最近的力学分析表明，鲍氏傍人可能并非咬合力的高效生产者，而且灵长类动物的粗壮形态不一定就意味着强大。在此，我们运用一种工程方法——有限元分析，来表明鲍氏傍人的面部骨骼结构坚固，呈现出与黑猩猩（Pan troglodytes）和非洲南方古猿不同的应变模式，并且能高效产生高咬合力。有人提出鲍氏傍人以草叶和莎草髓等柔软/坚韧食物为食。然而，该物种以及其他物种钝圆的咬合面形态表明，南方古猿适合食用坚硬食物，或许包括草籽和莎草籽。对与进食力学相关的形态进化趋势的考量表明，纤细型南方古猿的食物加工行为显然因环境变化而受到干扰，这可能促使了人属和傍人属的最终进化。
