Doktorandin Sandra Engels

During evolution some herbivores pass through a characteristic restructuring of their dentition. These changes occurred and still occur always in conjunction with a particular nutrient strategy. We want to elucidate how these changes in the dentition during the evolution contribute to an enhancement of capacity in the procedure of chewing. Therefore the different chewing cycles of the fossil taxa are reconstructed. The reconstruction is carried out digital with the aid of a 3D surface scanner and corresponding 3D Programs. Changes in the function of a tooth implicate changes in the design; hence facets and edges are measured and investigated, as well. In this way comparisons between tooth design, formation of wear facets and shearing edges can be drawn on different phylogenetic levels.

At first the methods should be applied on the group of the early Hippomorpha and their ancestors. The functional reconstructions in the dentition of this group lead from a crushing to a shearing dentition, involving great morphological changes in the tooth design.

 
Fig.1: Mesial view of the wear facets of the left part of mandibula of Mesohippus.

Fig.2: 3D reconstruction of a Hyracotherium