Funko Predator Open Mouth

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WAINWRIGHT, PETER C.; BELLWOOD, DAVID R.; WESTNEAT, MARK W.; GRUBICH, JUSTIN R.; HOEY, ANDREW S. (2004-04-22). "A functional morphospace for the skull of labrid fishes: patterns of diversity in a complex biomechanical system". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 82 (1): 1–25. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00313.x. ISSN 0024-4066. Lautenschlager used pictures and 3-D scans of well-preserved fossils to create computer models of the three dinos’ jaws. In particular, he was interested in the dozen or more areas where muscles or tendons attached to the skull and lower jaw. Not only possums play possum. Cold-blooded reptiles such as hognose snakes flip belly-up and remain rigid, with mouth open and tongue hanging out. They often spew blood from their mouth and emit a vile-smelling secretion from anal glands. Birds do it. Bees do it. Even other types of bugs do it. Westneat, Mark W. (2005), "Skull Biomechanics and Suction Feeding in Fishes", Fish Biomechanics, Fish Physiology, vol.23, Elsevier, pp.29–75, doi: 10.1016/s1546-5098(05)23002-9, ISBN 9780123504470 Predators including big cats, birds of prey, and ants share powerful jaws, sharp teeth, or claws which they use to seize and kill their prey. Some predators such as snakes and fish-eating birds like herons and cormorants swallow their prey whole; some snakes can unhinge their jaws to allow them to swallow large prey, while fish-eating birds have long spear-like beaks that they use to stab and grip fast-moving and slippery prey. Fish and other predators have developed the ability to crush or open the armored shells of molluscs.

Studies of these relatives suggest that the muscles exert their greatest force when they are stretched about 30 percent longer than their resting length. In other words, if a relaxed muscle is 10 centimeters (4 inches) long, it pulls with maximum force when it is stretched to a length of 13 centimeters (5.1 inches). Also, a muscle typically can’t pull at all if it is stretched to 170 percent of its resting length, says Lautenschlager. Beyond that, a muscle can rip or be damaged in some other way. How big could they go? This image shows the biggest angles for the dinos’ maximum bite force (left) versus their maximum mouth opening. Lautenschlager et al./ Royal Society Open Science In contrast, E. andrewsi could open its jaws, at most, about 49 degrees, the new analysis suggests. That helps bolster the idea that this dinosaur was a plant eater, Lautenschlager notes. “You don’t need a wide gape to grab leaves.” gape (verb) To open the mouth wide. (noun) A wide opening or gap. In zoology, the width of the open mouth.These are contrasting methods for the removal of food particles from a water flow: for example, by the gill rakers of fish, the baleen of whales, or the ostia of sponges. Venom - Many smaller predators such as the box jellyfish use venom to subdue their prey, and venom can also aid in digestion (as is the case for rattlesnakes and some spiders). The marbled sea snake that has adapted to egg predation has atrophied venom glands, and the gene for its three-finger toxin contains a mutation (the deletion of two nucleotides) that inactivates it. These changes are explained by the fact that its prey does not need to be subdued. a b c d Norton, S. F.; Brainerd, E. L. (1993-03-01). "Convergence in the Feeding Mechanics of Ecomorphologically Similar Species in the Centrarchidae and Cichlidae". Journal of Experimental Biology. 176 (1): 11–29. doi: 10.1242/jeb.176.1.11. ISSN 0022-0949. These data seem to set limits on how far these dinosaurs could open their mouths without injury, he says. Holzman, Roi; Day, Steven W.; Mehta, Rita S.; Wainwright, Peter C. (10 June 2008). "Jaw protrusion enhances forces exerted on prey by suction feeding fishes". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 5 (29): 1445–1457. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2008.0159. PMC 2607355. PMID 18544504.

For his computer models, Lautenschlager assumed the angle between the upper and lower jaw was between 3 and 6 degrees. (For comparison, the right angle at each corner of a square is equal to 90 degrees.) According to the new computer analyses, T. rex could stretch its mouth open as much as 80 degrees (almost as wide as the corner of a square). But it would exert its largest bite force when the lower jaw was not extended quite so far — just 32 degrees. That’s a little less than halfway open, but it is still plenty wide enough to latch onto large prey. a b c Wainwright, P.C.; Carroll, A.M.; Collar, D.C.; Day, S.W.; Higham, T.E.; Holzman, R.A. (2007). "Suction feeding mechanics, performance, and diversity in fishes". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 47 (1): 96–106. doi: 10.1093/icb/icm032. PMID 21672823. The mouth aperture represents another tradeoff between the ability to capture large elusive prey with more chances of failure—large gape—or to capture smaller elusive prey with greater success—smaller gape. A predator with a small mouth aperture can generate strong suction force compared to an individual with a wider gape. [19] [18] This was demonstrated by Wainwright et al. (2007) by comparing the feeding success of the bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, and the largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides. L. macrochirus has a smaller gape and was found to have higher accuracy with higher flow velocity and acceleration while M. salmoides has a larger gape with lower accuracy and lower flow velocity and acceleration. [18] However, with the larger gape the largemouth bass were able to capture larger elusive prey. Using ram feeding in combination with suction feeding can also influence the direction of water into the mouth of the predator. With use of ram, predators are able to change the flow of water around the mouth and focus the flow of water into the mouth. [20] But with too much ram, a bow wave is created in front of the predator which can push the prey away from the predator's body. [20] The mouth aperture and RSI represent the overall tradeoff between having a large gape with lower accuracy but being able to capture larger prey vs. having a smaller gape with increased accuracy but the size of prey is limited. The three main tradeoffs within the fish skull have occurred because of the high kinesis in the skull and the elusiveness of some prey types. However, having kinesis in the skull can enable a predator to evolve new techniques on increasing the performance of prey capture.

Longo, Sarah J.; McGee, Matthew D.; Oufiero, Christopher E.; Waltzek, Thomas B.; Wainwright, Peter C. (2015-11-23). "Body ram, not suction, is the primary axis of suction-feeding diversity in spiny-rayed fishes". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 219 (1): 119–128. doi: 10.1242/jeb.129015. ISSN 0022-0949. PMID 26596534.

Many factors can stabilize predator and prey populations. One example is the presence of multiple predators, particularly generalists that are attracted to a given prey species if it is abundant and look elsewhere if it is not. As a result, population cycles tend to be found in northern temperate and subarctic ecosystems because the food webs are simpler. The snowshoe hare-lynx system is subarctic, but even this involves other predators, including coyotes, goshawks and great horned owls, and the cycle is reinforced by variations in the food available to the hares.This is innovative research,” says Lawrence Witmer. He’s a paleontologist at Ohio University in Athens. Only within the past 5 years or so have paleontologists had the computer-modeling capability to do such analyses, he points out. The next step, he says, would be to include more realistically shaped muscles in those simulations.