The quote by McArdle in the preceding section serves as a good introduction to this topic.
Canine teeth are a good example of one form serving different functions.
In true carnivores, canine teeth help in cutting the flesh of prey. However, some frugivores find large canines to be helpful in processing fruit. Teeth of hominids. Our dentitions are now at most indicative of an omnivorous but soft diet and they are equally suitable for gnawing at bones, gorging on fruit, or consuming fried rice, boiled wheat, and unleavened cakes. However, and despite their more specialized dentitions, chimpanzees prove to be far more omnivorous in the wild than we had earlier reason to imagine.