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Original Article
Finite element analysis of ursid cranial mechanics and the prediction of feeding behaviour in the extinct giant Agriotherium africanum
Article first published online: 20 OCT 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00862.x
© 2011 The Authors. Journal of Zoology © 2011 The Zoological Society of London
Additional Information
How to Cite
Oldfield, C. C., McHenry, C. R., Clausen, P. D., Chamoli, U., Parr, W. C. H., Stynder, D. D., Wroe, S. (2012), Finite element analysis of ursid cranial mechanics and the prediction of feeding behaviour in the extinct giant Agriotherium africanum. Journal of Zoology, 286: 171. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00862.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 25 JAN 2012
- Article first published online: 20 OCT 2011
- Manuscript Accepted: 30 AUG 2011
- Manuscript Revised: 7 AUG 2011
- Manuscript Received: 30 MAY 2011
Funded by
- Australian Research Council Discovery Project. Grant Number: DP0986471
- Discovery Project. Grant Number: DP0987985
- University of New South Wales Goldstar
- Palaeontological Scientific Trust
- National Research Foundation African Origins Platform
Keywords:
- Agriotherium africanum;
- ursidae;
- feeding behaviour;
- finite element analysis;
- bite force
Abstract
Historically, predicting ursid feeding behaviour on the basis of morphometric and mechanical analyses has proven difficult. Here, we apply three-dimensional finite element analysis to models representing five extant and one fossil species of bear. The ability to generate high bite forces, and for the skull to sustain them, is present in both the giant panda and the gigantic extinct Agriotherium africanum. Bite forces for A. africanum are the highest predicted for any mammalian carnivore. Our findings do not resolve whether A. africanum was more likely a predator on, or scavenger of, large terrestrial vertebrates, but show that its skull was well-adapted to resist the forces generated in either activity. The possibility that A. africanum was adapted to process tough vegetation is discounted. Results suggest that the polar bear is less well-adapted to dispatch large prey than all but one of the five other species considered.