Natural Resources, School of
Date of this Version
2011
Abstract
Peter Ungar has written a book on mammalian teeth, a topic close to the heart of mammalogy itself and most mammalogists. His distillation of the massive literature on teeth into a succinct whole will appeal to scientists and professionals across disciplines. With paleontological and extant dental research in one place I no longer have to search these areas separately to find what I want. Ungar’s broad background includes physical anthropology, anatomy, and paleontology. Further, he has been one of the pioneers using dental microwear to analyze diets in primates and geographic information systems (GISs) on a microscale to study cusps and valleys of teeth instead of mountains and valleys of landscapes. ... I like Ungar’s book and his whole-organism approach. I particularly like thinking about the interface between teeth and food, how teeth fit together and wear away with different diets, and the nature of animalivorous prey. This book deserves to be on your shelf.
Comments
Published in Journal of Mammalogy, 92(5):1138–1140, 2011. Copyright (c) 2011 American Society of Mammalogists. Used by permission.