Mandibular biomechanics and the paleontological evidence for the evolution of human diet

Many Darwinian biologists accept that organisms and their constituent parts exhibit optimal design (given certain architectural, developmental, and phylogenetic constraints) so as to maximize reproductive survival. Strictly adaptationist approaches to explaining design perfection in biological has been rightly criticized as Panglossian storytelling (Gould and Lewontin, 1979), but there is ample evidence that the configurations of at least some morphological attributes are explicable in reference to the function(s) that they serve. However, exactly how closely the structure of a trait can be related to its apparent biological function remains a topic of discovery. There is an abundant literature indicating that mechanical (as well as physiological) environments may profoundly influence skeletal structure (e.g., Frost, 1964; Cowin, 1986; Martin and Burr, 1989; Fung, 1993; Martin, Burr, and Sharkey, 1998; Currey, 2002). But while it is evident that mechanical loads influence the skeletal system, it is not clear to what extent the mechanical environment dictates a particular morphological configuration.