The ability to live underground is widespread among continental vertebrates, so
understanding the origin and early evolution of fossorial vertebrates and the architecture …

Dental disease is commonly diagnosed in pet chinchillas and degus as it is in other small
herbivorous mammals with elodont (continuously growing) incisors and cheek teeth …

Mammals have developed sophisticated strategies adapting to particular locomotor modes,
feeding habits, and social interactions. Many rodent species have acquired a fossorial, semi …

Fossorial habits are tightly related to digging abilities in vertebrates and the most extreme
fossorial specialization is being restricted to conducting the entire life underground. Many …

Biting performance is a key factor in vertebrate groups possessing particular food habits. In
subterranean rodents that use the incisors as a digging tool, apart from requirements related …

A major interest of evolutionary biologists is to understand which environmental features are
associated with morphological and behavioural characteristics of species. Intraspecific …

Rodents are characterised by a distinctive masticatory apparatus which includes a single
pair of enlarged and continually growing incisors. This morphology, termed diprotodonty …

The relationship between the form and function of the skull has been the subject of a great
deal of research, much of which has concentrated on the impact of feeding on skull shape …

Tooth morphology and rates of wear have strong controls on how well mammals survive in
their habitats. Herbivorous mammals, specifically ungulates, combat the effects of wear …

Caviid rodents have peculiar craniomandibular specializations toward masticatory
propalinal movements and grinding, in relation to a grass-rich diet. The aim of this study is …