Biting is a common zoological behavior involving the active, rapid closing of the jaw around an object. This behavior is found in toothedanimals such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish, but can also exist in arthropods. Myocyticcontraction of the muscles of mastication is responsible for generating the force that initiates the preparatory jaw abduction (opening), then rapidly adducts (closes) the jaw and moves the top and bottom teeth towards each other, resulting in the forceful action of a bite.[1]
The types of teeth that organisms use to bite vary throughout the animal kingdom. Different types of teeth are seen in herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores as they are adapted over many years to better fit their diets. Carnivores possess canine, carnassial, and molar teeth, while herbivores are equipped with incisor teeth and wide-back molars.[4] In general, tooth shape has traditionally been used to predict dieting habits.[5] Carnivores have long, extremely sharp teeth for both gripping prey and cutting meat into chunks.[4] They lack flat chewing teeth because they swallow food in chunks. An example of this is shown by the broad, serrated teeth of great white sharks which prey on large marine animals.[1] On the other hand, herbivores have rows of wide, flat teeth to bite and chew grass and other plants. Cows spend up to eleven hours a day biting off grass and grinding it with their molars.[6]Omnivores consume both meat and plants, so they possess a mixture of flat teeth and sharp teeth.
Carrying mechanism
Biting can serve as a carrying mechanism for species such as beavers and ants, the raw power of their species-specific teeth allowing them to carry large objects. Beavers have a large tooth adapted for gnawing wood. Their jaw muscles are tuned to power through big trees and carry them back to their dam.[7] Ants use their powerful jaws to lift material back to the colony. They can carry several thousand times their weight due to their bite and are adapted to use this to forage for their colonies.[8]Fire ants use their strong bite to get a grip on prey, then inject a toxin via their stinger and carry the prey back to their territory.[9]
Biting is also an age appropriatebehavior and reaction for human children 30 months and younger. Conversely, children above this age are expected to have verbal skills to explain their needs and dislikes, as biting is not seen as age appropriate. Biting may be prevented by methods including redirection, change in the environment and responding to biting by talking about appropriate ways to express anger and frustration. School-age children, those older than 30 months, who habitually bite may require professional intervention.[15] Some discussion of human biting appears in The Kinsey Report on Sexual Behavior in the Human Female.[16] Biting may also occur in physical fights or in self-defense.[17]
Criminally, Forensic Dentistry is involved in bite-mark analysis. Because bite-marks change significantly over time, investigators must call for an expert as soon as possible. Bites are then analyzed to determine whether the biter was human, self-inflicted or not, and whether DNA was left behind from the biter. All measurements must be extremely precise, as small errors in measurement can lead to large errors in legal judgment.[18]
Human bites have historically been viewed superstitiously, particularly in the American South where there was once a common belief that the bite of a "blue-gum negro" (i.e., a Black person with darkly pigmented gums) was lethally poisonous.[19][20][21]
Ferrara, T.L.; Clausen, P.; Huber, D.R.; McHenry, C.R.; Peddemors, V.; Wroe, S. (2011). "Mechanics of biting in great white and sandtiger sharks". Journal of Biomechanics. 44 (3): 430–435. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.09.028. PMID21129747.
Cherry, James (2014). Feigin and Cherry's textbook of pediatric infectious diseases – Animal and Human Bites, Morven S. Edwards. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier/Saunders. ISBN978-1-4557-1177-2; Access provided by the University of Pittsburgh{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
Wroe, S.; Huber, D. R.; Lowry, M.; McHenry, C.; Moreno, K.; Clausen, P.; Ferrara, T. L.; Cunningham, E.; Dean, M. N.; Summers, A. P. (2008). "Three-dimensional computer analysis of white shark jaw mechanics: How hard can a great white bite?". Journal of Zoology. 276 (4): 336–342. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00494.x.
Kinsey, Alfred C.; Pomeroy, Wardell B.; Martin, Clyde E.; Gebhard, Paul H.; Brown, Jean M.; Christenson, Cornelia V.; Collins, Dorothy; Davis, Ritchie G.; Dellenback, William (1981). Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Indiana University Press. ISBN978-0-253-33411-4.
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