M F Teaford
Biographic Data
| ID | 1093 |
|---|---|
| NAME | M F Teaford |
| GIVEN NAMES | M F |
| FAMILY NAME | Teaford |
| SIGNATURE | TEAFORD M F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Johns Hopkins University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4904-7331 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 89 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1369 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 89 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1978 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 24 |
Dental microwear of Neogene cercopithecoids from the Turkana Basin, Kenya
Stubby versus stabby
Molar and incisor microwear reflect aspects of food choice and ingestive behaviors in living primates and have both been used to infer the same for fossil samples. Canine microwear, however, has received less attention, perhaps because of the prominent role canines play in social display and because they are used as weapons–while outside of a few specialized cases, their involvement in diet related behaviors has not been obvious. Here, we posit t…
JHE 50th Anniversary
Stable carbon isotope and molar microwear variability of South African australopiths in relation to paleohabitats and taxonomy
The dental microwear of hard‐object feeding in laboratory Sapajus apella and its implications for dental microwear formation
OBJECTIVES: This study seeks to determine if (a) consumption of hard food items or a mixture of food items leads to the formation of premolar or molar microwear in laboratory capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) in one feeding session and (b) rates of microwear formation are associated with the number of food items consumed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five adult male capuchins were used in two experiments, one where they were fed unshelled Brazil nuts, …
Microwear textures of Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus molars in relation to paleoenvironment and diet
A molar microwear texture analysis of pitheciid primates
Dental microwear textures have been examined for a broad range of extant primates to assess their efficacy for reconstructing diets of fossil species. To date though, no dental microwear texture data have been published for pitheciid molars, despite reported variation in degree of sclerocarpy and, by extension, the fracture properties of foods these platyrrhines eat. While all pitheciids eat hard or tough seeds, Chiropotes and Pithecia have been …
Canine and incisor microwear in pitheciids and Ateles reflects documented patterns of tooth use
OBJECTIVES: Platyrrhine species differ in the extent to and the manner in which they use their incisors and canines during food ingestion. For example, Ateles uses its anterior teeth to process mechanically nondemanding soft fruits, while the sclerocarp-harvesting pitheciids rely extensively on these teeth to acquire and process more demanding foods. Pitheciids themselves vary in anterior tooth use, with the pitheciines (Cacajao, Chiropotes, and …
Dental Adaptations of African Apes
Environmental perturbations can be detected through microwear texture analysis in two platyrrhine species from Brazilian Amazonia
Recent dental microwear studies have shown that fossil species differ from one another in texture attributes-both in terms of central tendency and dispersion. Most comparative studies used to interpret these results have relied on poorly provenienced museum samples that are not well-suited to consideration of within species variation in diet. Here we present a study of two species of platyrrhine monkeys, Alouatta belzebul (n = 60) and Sapajus ape…
Dental microwear profilometry of African non-cercopithecoid catarrhines of the Early Miocene
Dental Adaptations of African Apes
Body temperature and thermal environment in a generalized arboreal anthropoid, wild mantled howling monkeys ( Alouatta palliata )
Free‐ranging primates are confronted with the challenge of maintaining an optimal range of body temperatures within a thermally dynamic environment that changes daily, seasonally, and annually. While many laboratory studies have been conducted on primate thermoregulation, we know comparatively little about the thermal pressures primates face in their natural, evolutionarily relevant environment. Such knowledge is critical to understanding the evo…
Molar Microwear, Diet and Adaptation in a Purported Hominin Species Lineage from the Pliocene of East Africa
Viewpoints
Inference of feeding adaptation in extinct species is challenging, and reconstructions of the paleobiology of our ancestors have utilized an array of analytical approaches. Comparative anatomy and finite element analysis assist in bracketing the range of capabilities in taxa, while microwear and isotopic analyses give glimpses of individual behavior in the past. These myriad approaches have limitations, but each contributes incrementally toward t…
Premolar microwear and tooth use in Australopithecus afarensis
Methods for Studying the Ecological Physiology of Feeding in Free-Ranging Howlers (Alouatta palliata) at La Pacifica, Costa Rica
Dental microwear texture and anthropoid diets
Dental microwear has long been used as evidence concerning the diets of extinct species. Here, we present a comparative baseline series of dental microwear textures for a sample of 21 anthropoid primate species displaying interspecific and intraspecific dietary variability. Four dental microwear texture variables (complexity, anisotropy, textural fill volume, and heterogeneity) were computed based on scale‐sensitive fractal analysis and high‐reso…
Dental microwear and stable isotopes inform the paleoecology of extinct hominins
Determining the diet of an extinct species is paramount in any attempt to reconstruct its paleoecology. Because the distribution and mechanical properties of food items may impact postcranial, cranial, mandibular, and dental morphologies related to their procurement, ingestion, and mastication, these anatomical attributes have been studied intensively. However, while mechanical environments influence skeletal and dental features, it is not clear …
A dental topographic analysis of chimpanzees
Molar tooth morphology is generally said to reflect a compromise between phylogenetic and functional influences. Chimpanzee subspecies have been reported to exhibit differences in molar dimensions and nonmetric traits, but these have not been related to differences in their diets. And in fact, observations to date of the diets of chimpanzees have not revealed consistent differences among subspecies. This study uses dental topographic analyses sho…
Molar microwear textures and the diets of Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis
Many researchers have suggested that Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis were among the earliest hominins to have diets that included hard, brittle items. Here we examine dental microwear textures of these hominins for evidence of this. The molars of three Au. anamensis and 19 Au. afarensis specimens examined preserve unobscured antemortem microwear. Microwear textures of these individuals closely resemble those of Paranthro…
Diet reconstruction in antebellum Baltimore
Construction in the City of Baltimore during 1996 led to the recovery of human skeletal remains dating from 1792 to 1856. Historical research indicates that the skeletal remains come from two adjacent graveyards: Christ's Church Episcopalian Cemetery and the Potters Field East. The different socioeconomic status of the internees in each cemetery suggests the possibility of marked contrasts in lifestyle, health, and diet. To shed further light on …
Ecological stress and linear enamel hypoplasia in Cebus
Although it is assumed that monkeys in some environments experience more nutritional or physiological stress than others, little research has been conducted on this topic. This study examines the relationship between linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) frequency, a physiological indicator of stress, and environmental stressors. To test this relationship, LEH frequencies were calculated for 144 Cebus from 54 locations in Brazil. Habitat, temperature ra…
Impacts of grit on dental microwear formation
Dental Microwear Textures of an Expanded Sample of Australopithecus Africanus from Sterkfontein Member 4
Quantitative differences in dental microwear between primate species with different diets and a comment on the presumed diet of Sivapithecus
Studies of dental microwear have been used to relate tooth form to function in a variety of recent and extinct mammals. Probably the most important aspect of microwear analysis is the possibility of using it to deduce the diet of extinct animals. Such deductions must be based on comparative studies of modern species with known diets, but to date, only qualitative studies have been attempted and all have been based on small samples. Here we report…
In vivo and in vitro turnover in dental microwear
Given the potential usefulness of dental microwear analyses in interpretations of archaeological and paleontological material, it is surprising how little we know about changes in individual microwear features through time. The purpose of this study was to document the turnover in primate dental microwear through in vivo dental studies of monkeys raised on different diets, and through in vitro studies of the abrasive effects of monkey chow biscui…
Dental microwear and stable isotopes inform the paleoecology of extinct hominins
Determining the diet of an extinct species is paramount in any attempt to reconstruct its paleoecology. Because the distribution and mechanical properties of food items may impact postcranial, cranial, mandibular, and dental morphologies related to their procurement, ingestion, and mastication, these anatomical attributes have been studied intensively. However, while mechanical environments influence skeletal and dental features, it is not clear …
Dental microwear texture analysis
Molar microwear and diet in the genus Cebus
Recent analyses have documented differences in dental microwear between primate species with different diets, especially between primate hard‐object feeders and primate leaf‐eaters. Thus far, these microwear differences have only been documented for primates with vastly different foraging strategies and geographic distributions. To see if similar differences could be documented for closely related species, dental replicas from Cebus apella , Cebu…
Partial skeleton of Proconsul nyanzae from Mfangano Island, Kenya
A partial skeleton attributed to Proconsul nyanzae (KNM‐MW 13142) is described. The fossils were found at a site on Mfangano Island, Kenya, which dates to 17.9 ± .1 million years ago. KNM‐MW 13142 consists of six partial vertebrae (T12‐S1), a nearly complete hipbone, most of the right femur and left femoral shaft, a fragmentary tibia and fibula, and a nearly complete talus and calcaneus. This skeleton provides the first pelvic fossil known for an…
Frontiers of Contact
Dental microwear and diet in Venezuelan primates
Recent microwear analyses have demonstrated that wear patterns can be correlated with dietary differences. However, much of this work has been based on analyses of museum material where dates and locations of collection are not well known. In view of these difficulties, it would be desirable to compare microwear patterns for different genera collected from the same area at the same time. The opportunity to do this was provided by the collections …
Seasonal or ecological differences in diet and molar microwear in Cebus nigrivittatus
Dental microwear analyses have raised new hopes and questions for functional morphologists. One hope is that analyses will allow insights into subtle dietary differences of extinct species. One major question is whether seasonal and/or habitat differences in dental microwear are reliably detectable. The extensive collections of Cebus nigrivittatus obtained by the Smithsonian Venezuelan Project allowed us to examine seasonal and habitat difference…
Dust accumulation in the canopy
Dental microwear researchers consider exogenous grit or dust to be an important cause of microscopic wear on primate teeth. No study to date has examined the accumulation of such abrasives on foods eaten by primates in the forest. This investigation introduces a method to collect dust at various heights in the canopy. Results from dust collection studies conducted at the primate research stations at Ketambe in Indonesia, and Hacienda La Pacifica …
Comparative and functional anatomy of Proconsul phalanges from the Kaswanga Primate Site, Rusinga Island, Kenya
The fossil remains of nine individuals attributable to the Miocene hominoid genus Proconsul were recovered during 1984 and 1985 from the Kaswanga Primate Site on Rusinga Island, Kenya. Among the thousands of bone fragments recovered were hundreds of phalangeal fragments, which have been collected and assembled into 247 separate identifiable phalanges or phalangeal fragments, representing nine of ten identified Kaswanga individuals. This sample is…
Dental microwear texture and anthropoid diets
Dental microwear has long been used as evidence concerning the diets of extinct species. Here, we present a comparative baseline series of dental microwear textures for a sample of 21 anthropoid primate species displaying interspecific and intraspecific dietary variability. Four dental microwear texture variables (complexity, anisotropy, textural fill volume, and heterogeneity) were computed based on scale‐sensitive fractal analysis and high‐reso…
Dental microwear in live, wild‐trapped Alouatta palliata from Costa Rica
One problem with dental microwear analyses of museum material is that investigators can never be sure of the diets of the animals in question. An obvious solution to this problem is to work with live animals. Recent work with laboratory primates has shown that high resolution dental impressions can be obtained from live animals. The purpose of this study was to use similar methods to begin to document rates and patterns of dental microwear for pr…
Body mass, sexual dimorphism and femoral proportions of Proconsul from Rusinga and Mfangano Islands, Kenya
Molar microwear in Praeanthropus afarensis
Live primates and dental replication
Dental microwear analyses are beginning to provide new insights into the intricacies of jaw movement and tooth use in modern and extinct mammals. However, these analyses are also raising new questions that are best answered through studies of live animals with known diets. The process of taking dental impressions from live animals is a difficult one that presents problems different from those encountered in working with museum material. This repo…
A new species of Proconsul from the early Miocene of Rusinga/Mfangano Islands, Kenya
Craniofacial biomechanics and functional and dietary inferences in hominin paleontology
Dental topography and molar wear in Alouatta palliata from Costa Rica
Paleoprimatologists depend on relationships between form and function of teeth to reconstruct the diets of fossil species. Most of this work has been limited to studies of unworn teeth. A new approach, dental topographic analysis, allows the characterization and comparison of worn primate teeth. Variably worn museum specimens have been used to construct species‐specific wear sequences so that measurements can be compared by wear stage among taxa …
Molar microwear and dietary reconstructions of fossil cercopithecoidea from the Plio-Pleistocene deposits of South Africa
Mechanical Defenses in Leaves Eaten by Costa Rican Howling Monkeys (Alouatta palliata)
Primate species often eat foods of different physical properties. This may have implications for tooth structure and wear in those species. The purpose of this study was to examine the mechanical defenses of leaves eaten by Alouatta palliata from different social groups at Hacienda La Pacifica in Costa Rica. Leaves were sampled from the home-ranges of groups living in different microhabitats. Specimens were collected during the wet and dry season…
Dental microwear and diets of African early Homo
Dental microwear and dental function
Investigators have used many techniques to understand diet and tooth use in prehistoric species. A promising new addition to the analytical arsenal is dental microwear analysis—the study of microscopic wear patterns on teeth. On‐going work is proceeding on a number of fronts. Studies of modern animals are showing some of the limits of resolution of the technique, while studies of prehistoric animals are answering many new questions and raising st…
Viewpoints
Inference of feeding adaptation in extinct species is challenging, and reconstructions of the paleobiology of our ancestors have utilized an array of analytical approaches. Comparative anatomy and finite element analysis assist in bracketing the range of capabilities in taxa, while microwear and isotopic analyses give glimpses of individual behavior in the past. These myriad approaches have limitations, but each contributes incrementally toward t…
Proconsul did not have a tail
On Lomax and Arensberg's Evolutionary Classification
Differences in molar wear gradient between juvenile macaques and langurs
Interspecific differences in the amount and form of molar wear in nonhuman primates are only beginning to be documented and understood. The purpose of this study was to look at the wear gradient between M 1 and dm 2 in a sample of macaques and langurs to determine if differences in wear gradient could be related to differences in diet. A skeletal collection of wild shot Presbytis cristatus and Macaca fascicularis from the Museum of Comparative Zo…
Differences in molar wear gradient between adult macaques and langurs
The morphology and wear of the lingual notch in macaques and langurs
Although interspecific differences in the relative development of molar occlusal features have been documented for most primate species, wear‐related changes in these features are only beginning to be understood. In the present study, the notch between the metaconid and entoconid of M 2 was examined in a skeletal sample of Macaca fascicularis , Presbytis cristatus , and Presbytis rubicunda from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard Univers…
Quantitative differences in dental microwear between primate species with different diets and a comment on the presumed diet of Sivapithecus
Studies of dental microwear have been used to relate tooth form to function in a variety of recent and extinct mammals. Probably the most important aspect of microwear analysis is the possibility of using it to deduce the diet of extinct animals. Such deductions must be based on comparative studies of modern species with known diets, but to date, only qualitative studies have been attempted and all have been based on small samples. Here we report…
Physical
Molar microwear and diet in the genus Cebus
Recent analyses have documented differences in dental microwear between primate species with different diets, especially between primate hard‐object feeders and primate leaf‐eaters. Thus far, these microwear differences have only been documented for primates with vastly different foraging strategies and geographic distributions. To see if similar differences could be documented for closely related species, dental replicas from Cebus apella , Cebu…
Household Economics and Hominid Origins [and Comments and Reply]
Between 4 and 6 million years ago forces were gathering which transformed a group of quadrupedal individual foraging protohominids into one or more species of bipedal food-sharing hominids. Recently, several scientific subfields have contributed new insights and new pieces of information which, when fitted together by different scholars, present us with a confusing picture of how the transformation might have taken place. This paper examines some…
Body weights in mixed species troops of Saguinus mystax mystax and Saguinus fuscicollis nigrifrons in Amazonian Peru
An investigation of body weights of members of mixed species troops of Saguinus mystax mystax and Saguinus fuscicollis nigrifrons was conducted at the Rio Blanco Research Station in northeastern Peru. A total of 107 adult and subadult tamarin monkeys were trapped, measured, and released. Data collected indicate that mean body weights for adult male and female moustached tamarins are 564 gm and 626 gm, respectively, whereas for adult saddle‐back t…
The Kaswanga primate site
New hominoid facial skeleton from the Early Miocene of Rusinga Island, Kenya, and its bearing on the relationship between Proconsul nyanzae and Proconsul africanus
A hominoid proximal humerus from the Early Miocene of Rusinga Island, Kenya
Live primates and dental replication
Dental microwear analyses are beginning to provide new insights into the intricacies of jaw movement and tooth use in modern and extinct mammals. However, these analyses are also raising new questions that are best answered through studies of live animals with known diets. The process of taking dental impressions from live animals is a difficult one that presents problems different from those encountered in working with museum material. This repo…
Seasonal or ecological differences in diet and molar microwear in Cebus nigrivittatus
Dental microwear analyses have raised new hopes and questions for functional morphologists. One hope is that analyses will allow insights into subtle dietary differences of extinct species. One major question is whether seasonal and/or habitat differences in dental microwear are reliably detectable. The extensive collections of Cebus nigrivittatus obtained by the Smithsonian Venezuelan Project allowed us to examine seasonal and habitat difference…
In vivo and in vitro turnover in dental microwear
Given the potential usefulness of dental microwear analyses in interpretations of archaeological and paleontological material, it is surprising how little we know about changes in individual microwear features through time. The purpose of this study was to document the turnover in primate dental microwear through in vivo dental studies of monkeys raised on different diets, and through in vitro studies of the abrasive effects of monkey chow biscui…
Body mass, sexual dimorphism and femoral proportions of Proconsul from Rusinga and Mfangano Islands, Kenya
Dental microwear in live, wild‐trapped Alouatta palliata from Costa Rica
One problem with dental microwear analyses of museum material is that investigators can never be sure of the diets of the animals in question. An obvious solution to this problem is to work with live animals. Recent work with laboratory primates has shown that high resolution dental impressions can be obtained from live animals. The purpose of this study was to use similar methods to begin to document rates and patterns of dental microwear for pr…
The KNM-WT 17000 premolar
Proconsul did not have a tail
Orang-utan biology
A primate radiation
Dental microwear and diet in Venezuelan primates
Recent microwear analyses have demonstrated that wear patterns can be correlated with dietary differences. However, much of this work has been based on analyses of museum material where dates and locations of collection are not well known. In view of these difficulties, it would be desirable to compare microwear patterns for different genera collected from the same area at the same time. The opportunity to do this was provided by the collections …
Dental microwear and diet in extant and extinct Theropithecus
Recent work has shown that microscopic wear patterns on teeth can yield insights into diet and dental function in a variety of mammals. The purpose of this study was to see if (a) distinctive dental microwear patterns could be documented for museum samples of modern Theropithecus , and (b) similar patterns might be discernible on the teeth of fossil baboons from the Omo deposits in Ethiopia. Epoxy casts were prepared from dental impressions as de…
Partial skeleton of Proconsul nyanzae from Mfangano Island, Kenya
A partial skeleton attributed to Proconsul nyanzae (KNM‐MW 13142) is described. The fossils were found at a site on Mfangano Island, Kenya, which dates to 17.9 ± .1 million years ago. KNM‐MW 13142 consists of six partial vertebrae (T12‐S1), a nearly complete hipbone, most of the right femur and left femoral shaft, a fragmentary tibia and fibula, and a nearly complete talus and calcaneus. This skeleton provides the first pelvic fossil known for an…
Radiographic estimation of long bone cross‐sectional geometric properties
Because of their biomechanical significance, cross‐sectional geometric properties of long bone diaphyses (areas, second moments of area) have been increasingly used in a number of form/function studies, e.g., to reconstruct body mass or locomotor mode in fossil primates or to elucidate allometric scaling relationships among extant taxa. In the present study, we test whether these biomechanical section properties can be adequately estimated using …
Biology (71 works) · Primate Behavior and Ecology (64 works) · Paleontology (42 works) · Zoology (38 works) · Evolutionary biology (37 works) · Paleontology (33 works) · Ecology (28 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (28 works) · Ecology (27 works) · Evolution and Paleontology Studies (27 works)