Feeding mechanics and bite force modelling of the skull of Dunkleosteus terrelli, an ancient apex predator
Feeding mechanics and bite force modelling of the skull of Dunkleosteus terrelli, an ancient apex predator
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2006.0569
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发表时间：
2007-02-22
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Westneat, Mark W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Anderson, Philip S. L.;Westneat, Mark W.
盾皮类是一种多样的装甲鱼类，在4.15 - 3.6亿年前的泥盆纪时期主导了水生生态系统。邓氏鱼等掠食者的刃状颚表明，这些动物是第一种使用快速张嘴和强有力的咬合来捕获和粉碎逃避的猎物的脊椎动物。在这里，我们开发了一个生物力学模型的力量和运动在Dunkleosteus terrelli喂养过程中，揭示了一个高度动态的头骨驱动一个独特的四连杆机构。该联动系统具有高速传动装置，用于张开下颚，产生快速扩张阶段，类似于现代鱼类在捕获猎物时使用吸力。下颌闭合肌肉提供非常强的咬合力，对于大型个体（全长6 m），估计最大咬合力在颌骨尖端超过4400 N，在后牙板超过5300 N。这种咬合力是所有现存或化石鱼类中最强大的，也是动物中最强大的咬合力之一。
Placoderms are a diverse group of armoured fishes that dominated the aquatic ecosystems of the Devonian Period, 415-360 million years ago. The bladed jaws of predators such as Dunkleosteus suggest that these animals were the first vertebrates to use rapid mouth opening and a powerful bite to capture and fragment evasive prey items prior to ingestion. Here, we develop a biomechanical model of force and motion during feeding in Dunkleosteus terrelli that reveals a highly kinetic skull driven by a unique four-bar linkage mechanism. The linkage system has a high-speed transmission for jaw opening, producing a rapid expansion phase similar to modern fishes that use suction during prey capture. Jaw closing muscles power an extraordinarily strong bite, with an estimated maximal bite force of over 4400 N at the jaw tip and more than 5300 N at the rear dental plates, for a large individual (6m in total length). This bite force capability is the greatest of all living or fossil fishes and is among the most powerful bites in animals.