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Tick takes on 1206 resistors
thinkfat:
'long in the tooth' is about old horses, though, not rodents.
tooki:
--- Quote from: coppice on May 23, 2021, 07:01:55 pm ---
--- Quote from: jbeng on May 23, 2021, 06:59:47 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on May 23, 2021, 02:11:27 pm ---... but have you never noticed how a wide range of animals gnaw at things too hard to have any obvious nutritional qualities? It seems to be baked deep into animal behaviour. Sometimes it extracts minerals. Sometimes it accesses bone marrow locked inside. Sometimes it has no clear goal. Whatever the benefits, its commonplace.
--- End quote ---
Some animals (rodents, in particular) constantly gnaw to keep their teeth worn down, as their teeth are always growing. Hence the saying about "being a bit long in the tooth." They also gnaw to keep their teeth sharp.
--- End quote ---
There's a chicken and egg question there. Do they gnaw to keep their teeth in check, or did the teeth evolve to deal with endless gnawing?
--- End quote ---
They gnaw to sharpen their teeth (the front layer is hard apatite enamel, the back layer the softer dentin, so the back wears faster, producing a sharp edge), and the constant growing would be to ensure there’s still tooth to sharpen! :p
coppice:
--- Quote from: tooki on May 24, 2021, 01:30:30 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on May 23, 2021, 07:01:55 pm ---
--- Quote from: jbeng on May 23, 2021, 06:59:47 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on May 23, 2021, 02:11:27 pm ---... but have you never noticed how a wide range of animals gnaw at things too hard to have any obvious nutritional qualities? It seems to be baked deep into animal behaviour. Sometimes it extracts minerals. Sometimes it accesses bone marrow locked inside. Sometimes it has no clear goal. Whatever the benefits, its commonplace.
--- End quote ---
Some animals (rodents, in particular) constantly gnaw to keep their teeth worn down, as their teeth are always growing. Hence the saying about "being a bit long in the tooth." They also gnaw to keep their teeth sharp.
--- End quote ---
There's a chicken and egg question there. Do they gnaw to keep their teeth in check, or did the teeth evolve to deal with endless gnawing?
--- End quote ---
They gnaw to sharpen their teeth (the front layer is hard apatite enamel, the back layer the softer dentin, so the back wears faster, producing a sharp edge), and the constant growing would be to ensure there’s still tooth to sharpen! :p
--- End quote ---
Its easy to post hoc rationalise all sorts of animal behaviour without it having any connection to how that behaviour developed over many generations.
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