Tseng Study Punctures ‘You Are What You Eat’ Paradigm for Carnivore Skull Shape

New Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences research shows that the evolution of skull shape in the mammalian order Carnivora is more complex than previously thought and influenced by non-dietary factors. “For years, conventional thought surrounding carnivoran skull shape followed the ‘you are what you eat’ paradigm, where distantly related species evolve similar skulls because of shared dietary needs,” said Jack Tseng, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences. “We found that to be a dramatic oversimplification.”