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Cricetid rodents: Is molar root morphology an indicator of diet?

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Abstract

The relationship between tooth roots and diet is largely unexplored, although a logical relationship between harder diets and increased root surface area is suggested. Existing studies of primates, carnivorans and phyllostomid bats have indicated a relationship between diet hardness, bite force and tooth root surface area. The goal of this study was to determine whether root surface area can act as a potential surrogate for bite force and diet in cricetid rodents. Using microcomputed tomography (microCT), tooth root morphology from six species of rodents, two grass eaters (Calomys callosus and Reithrodon auritus), two seed eaters (Phyllotis darwini and Ochrotomys nuttalli) and two insect eaters (Akodon azarae and Oxymycterus hispidus) were compared. Similar to other studies, these rodents did exhibit differences in tooth root surface area based on diet classification, but food hardness did not seem to be a factor. Grass-eating species showed significantly larger roots relative to the other diet groups (p = 0.001). Bite force was estimated using skull measurements. Seed eaters were found to have a larger bite force, followed by grass and insect eaters, though the trend did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.058). No strong relationship was found between estimated bite force and tooth root surface area. In this study, the mechanics of grass eating seem to have a stronger effect on tooth root surface area than bite force. microCT allows the nondestructive quantification of previously difficult-to-access tooth morphology; this method shows the potential for tooth roots to provide valuable dietary, behavioral and ecological information in rodents.

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Acknowledgments

This work could not be done without museum collections and staff; specimens were kindly loaned from the University of Washington Burke Museum (UWBM) and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) at the University of California, Berkeley. Jeff Bradley (UWBM) and Chris Conroy (MVZ) were especially helpful to this project. Tim Cox and Murat Maga at the Small ANimal Tomographic Analysis facility (SANTA) at Seattle Children’s Hospital provided training and assistance with CT scanning, for which I am grateful. Two anonymous reviewers greatly helped improve this manuscript. Many thanks to my advisor, Sue Herring, for her guidance and patience. This project was supported by T32 DE07132 from NIDCR.

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The author has no conflict of interest to declare.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by the author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Washington, 24 Kincaid Hall, Box 351800, Seattle, WA, 98195-1800, USA

    Casey J. Self

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  1. Casey J. Self
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Correspondence to Casey J. Self.

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Communicated by A. Schmidt-Rhaesa.

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Self, C.J. Cricetid rodents: Is molar root morphology an indicator of diet?. Zoomorphology 134, 309–316 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-015-0262-y

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