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. 2013 Nov 5;1:e204. doi: 10.7717/peerj.204

Figure 3. Pattern.

Figure 3

The strain response of each species model for all conditions provides a graphical representation of quantitative pattern of results. Conditions are separated into biting (A), shaking (B), and twisting (C) feeding behaviours, and are subsequently labelled according to the combination of modelling factors used in that simulation. Front, Mid, and Back indicate simulations at front, mid and back bite positions respectively, while Surface, Volume, and Length indicate surface area, volume, and length scaling respectively. HET and HOM indicate simulations with isotropic heterogeneous and isotropic homogeneous material properties respectively, while TeT (‘tooth equals tooth’), NoLLC (‘no linear load case’), ELA (‘equal lever arm’), and MeM (‘moment equals moment’) each indicate the type of linear load case used in the simulation. Under biting, TeT simulates all species biting with identical ‘resultant’ bite force to M. cataphractus, while NoLLC simulates all species biting at their maximal muscle force. Under shaking, TeT simulates an identical magnitude of shake force to M. cataphractus, while ELA simulates shaking prey of identical mass at the same frequency. Under twisting, MeM simulates an identical magnitude of twisting force, while ELA simulates a constant ratio of skull width to twisting force between each species. Taxa are colour-coded. Taxon abbreviations: Ot, Osteolaemus tetraspis; Cm, Crocodylus moreletii; Cng, Crocodylus novaeguineae; Ci, Crocodylus intermedius; Cj, Crocodylus johnstoni; Mc, Mecistops cataphractus; Ts, Tomistoma schlegelii. Note that for shaking (B) feeding behaviours there is a much more pronounced reduction in microstrain (for all species models) when comparing a front to a mid bite position than comparing a mid to a back bite position. For twisting (C) feeding behaviour scaling to length results in the largest variation of microstrain; this is also true for biting (A) with the exception of conditions also including NoLLC, where there is little visible difference between scaling types.