Why did grazing mammals evolve high-crowned teeth?

Grazing mammals evolved high-crowned teeth, known as hypsodont teeth, as a specialized adaptation to their diet of grasses.1

Unlike browsing on soft, leafy vegetation, grazing involves consuming grasses that are often gritty and abrasive, which causes significant wear on an animal's teeth over time. To circumvent this problem, these mammals developed higher crowns that provide more material to be worn down throughout their lives.231

This evolutionary trend is often accompanied by the deposition of secondary cement within the hollows of the tooth surface, which further strengthens the structure and increases its resistance to wear. This specialization allowed various herbivorous groups, such as horses and certain bovids, to thrive as open grasslands expanded during the Miocene Epoch.142