The ontogeny of bite-force performance in American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
@article{Erickson2003TheOO, title={The ontogeny of bite-force performance in American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)}, author={Gregory M. Erickson and A. Kristopher Lappin and Kent A Vliet}, journal={Journal of Zoology}, year={2003}, volume={260}, pages={317-327} }
American alligators Alligator mississippiensis undergo major transformations in morphology and ecology during development. These include several thousand-fold changes in body mass, modified snout and dental proportions, and shifts in diet from small, delicate foodstuffs to the inclusion of increasingly larger, more robust prey. How these changes in anatomical form contribute to actual physical performance and niche use is largely unknown. In the present study, bite-force measurements for 41…
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