Does age matter?-Efficiency of mechanical food break down in Tupaia belangeri at different ages.

Autor: Schwermann AH; LWL-Museum of Natural History, Westphalian State Museum and Planetarium, Münster, Germany., Schultz JA; Department of Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany., Fuchs E; Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Göttingen, Germany., Leha A; Department of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany., Hummel J; Department of Animal Sciences, Ruminant Nutrition, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany., Kullmer O; Department of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.; Department of Paleobiology and Environment, Institute of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany., Steuer P; Senzyme GmbH, Troisdorf, Germany., Martin T; Department of Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2023 Jul 10; Vol. 18 (7), pp. e0274439. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jul 10 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274439
Abstrakt: The relationship of food comminution and individual age in Tupaia belangeri is investigated. It is hypothesized that with increasing age the performance of the molar dentition decreases due to progressive tooth wear. While this relationship is well-documented for herbivores, age-related test series are largely lacking for insectivorous mammals. 15 individuals of Tupaia belangeri were fed exclusively with mealworms, and their faeces were analyzed for the number and size of chitin particles. The exoskeleton of a mealworm is resistant to digestive fluids in the gastrointestinal tract, and the size of individual chitin particles indicates the effectiveness of mechanical comminution that occurs in the oral cavity during mastication. It is hypothesized that a more precise occlusion of the dentition results in smaller particle size. Although individuals of all ages (juvenile, adult, and senile) were able to effectively process mealworms with their dentition prior to digestion, a larger area of very large chitin particles (98% quantile of all particles in senile animals as compared to in the same quantile in adults) in the feces of senile animals was detected. Even though the particle size of indigestible material is irrelevant for the digestive process, these findings either document somatic senescence in the functionality of the teeth, or alternatively a change in chewing behaviour with age.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2023 Schwermann et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje