Emily McParland, Dr. Ross, and colleagues publish a new paper on rat chewing kinematics
Emily McParland, Dr. Ross and colleagues, including lab alumni JD Laurence-Chasen and Kazutaka Takahashi, have published a new paper on the kinematics of chewing in the Wistar brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). This paper arose out of the fruitful collaboration between Dr. Ross’s lab at the University of Chicago and Dr. Nicholas Gidmark’s lab at Knox College. Because this species has an unfused mandibular symphysis, the kinematics are quite complex. The paper finds that due to the complexity, the rat is an unsuitable species in many cases for studying general mammalian chewing evolution or human chewing.
Dr. Ross publishes paper on primate muscle fiber measurement with Dr. Andrea Taylor and colleagues
Dr. Ross is a coauthor on Dr. Andrea Taylor’s new paper on muscle fiber measurement techniques in strepsirrhine and platyrrhine primates. Evidence from this paper suggests that different techniques produce different results, and therefore the purpose of the study should be considered when considering which technique to use.
Alec Wilken co-authors a new paper on prokinesis in the feeding and locomotor systems of parrots
Alec Wilken is on a new paper from Michael Grantosky’s Comparative Animal Motion Lab at NYIT. The paper describes how rosy-faced lovebirds use prokinesis during tripedal climbing and mandibular/maxillary adduction, i.e., biting. They report that the maxilla is primarily responsible for generating force during locomotion and the mandible is primarily responsible for generating force during jaw adduction. It suggests that these parrots can alter prokinetic function using modulation of neuromuscular control.
