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Higher masseter muscle mass in grazing than in browsing ruminants

  • Physiological Physiology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Using cranioskeletal measurements, several studies have generated evidence that grazing ruminants have a more pronounced mastication apparatus, in terms of muscle insertion areas and protuberances, than browsing ruminants, with the resulting hypothesis that grazers should have larger, heavier chewing muscles than browsers. However, the only investigation of this so far [Axmacher and Hofmann (J Zool 215:463–473, 1988)] did not find differences between ruminant feeding types in the masseter muscle mass of 22 species. Here, we expand the dataset to 48 ruminant species. Regardless of phylogenetic control in the statistical treatment, there was a significant positive correlation of body mass and masseter mass, and also a significant association between percent grass in the natural diet and masseter mass. The results support the concept that ruminant species that ingest more grass have relatively larger masseter muscles, possibly indicating an increased requirement to overcome the resistance of grass forage. The comparative chewing resistance of different forage classes may represent a rewarding field of ecophysiological research.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the numerous hunters and zoological institutions that helped collecting material. M. C. particularly thanks Nadia Robert and Christian Wenker for the provision of giraffid material and J. C. Castell for assistance at dissections, D. Jäger for support in literature review, and B. Schneider for support in literature acquisition. Norman Owen-Smith kindly provided the data collection from his 1997 publication. We thank Atle Mysterud and one anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on previous versions of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Marcus Clauss

  2. Trompeterhaus, 15837, Baruth/Mark, Germany

    Reinold R. Hofmann

  3. Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany

    W. Jürgen Streich & Jörns Fickel

  4. Institute of Animal Science, Animal Nutrition Group, University of Bonn, Endenicher Allee 15, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Jürgen Hummel

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  1. Marcus Clauss
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Correspondence to Marcus Clauss.

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Communicated by Jean-Michel Gaillard.

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Clauss, M., Hofmann, R.R., Streich, W.J. et al. Higher masseter muscle mass in grazing than in browsing ruminants. Oecologia 157, 377–385 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1093-z

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