Abstract

Mammals first originated during the Mesozoic but are often overlooked next to their dinosaur contemporaries. As such, much is still unknown about Mesozoic mammals, despite two-thirds of their evolutionary history taking place during this era. Here I explore one of the most important ecological traits of mammals, their diet, from a functional standpoint. To do this, I use a combination of geometric morphometrics and biomechanical techniques, including mechanical advantage and finite element analysis. I pose two main questions: 1) what can the functional performance of mammalian jaws tell us about their diets? And 2) can we use this information to infer the diets of our earliest mammalian ancestors?