Meeting Abstract
Among mammals, omnivores may be particularly well-suited for responding to high levels of variation in food properties due to their varied diet. In pigs, a quintessential mammalian omnivore, the relatively unconstrained temporomandibular joint suggests that jaw movements may facilitate a flexible response to changes in food properties when feeding on different foods. Previous work has shown comparatively high levels of variability in the temporal aspects of chewing on different foods in pigs at the intra-cycle level (i.e., cycle phases), with corresponding low levels of variability in total gape cycle duration. Here, we use X-ray Reconstruction Of Moving Morphology (XROMM) to examine the spatial aspect of chewing kinematics in pigs chewing on four different foods: pellets, apples, almonds, and carrots. Variability in feeding movements is evaluated at two levels: 1) within each food type across four individuals (i.e., stereotypy) and 2) across food types (i.e., flexibility). Results indicate that condylar and jaw movements are altered in response to different foods. Condylar protraction and retraction show low variability during almond and carrot chewing, but this is not the case for mediolateral translations, which are fairly comparable across all foods. Comparisons of patterns of variability in feeding movements, as well as the analysis of the feeding movements themselves, will provide valuable insights into the ways in which organisms deal with changes in external stimuli and the adaptability and response of sensorimotor systems.
