Data from: A three-dimensional computer simulation of feeding behaviour in red and giant pandas relates skull biomechanics with dietary niche partitioning

The red (Ailurus fulgens) and giant (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) pandas are
mammalian carnivores convergently adapted to a bamboo feeding diet.
However, whereas Ailurus forage almost entirely on younger leaves, fruits
and tender trunks, Ailuropoda rely more on trunks and stems. Such a
difference in foraging mode is considered as strategy for resource
partitioning where they are sympatric. Here we use FEA to test for
mechanical differences and similarities in skull performance between
Ailurus and Ailuropoda related to diet. Feeding simulations suggest that
the two panda species have similar ranges of mechanical advantage and
strain energy profiles across the dentition, which reflects their
durophagous diet. However, the stress distributions and peaks in the
skulls of Ailurus and Ailuropoda are remarkably different for biting at
all tooth locations. Although the skull of Ailuropoda is capable of
resisting higher stresses than the skull of Ailurus, the latter is able to
distribute stresses more evenly through the skull. These differences in
skull biomechanics reflect their distinct bamboo feeding preference as
Ailurus use repetitive chewing in an extended mastication to feed on soft
leaves and Ailuropoda exhibit more punctual periods of chomp-and-swallow
feeding to break the hard bamboo trunks.