Elizabeth M St Clair
Biographic Data
| ID | 814919 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elizabeth M St Clair |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elizabeth M St |
| FAMILY NAME | Clair |
| SIGNATURE | CLAIR E M S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stony Brook University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2762-8944 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 138 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Lower molar shape and size in prosimian and platyrrhine primates
The goal of this research is to evaluate the relative strength of the influences of diet, size, and phylogenetic signal on dental geometric shape. Accurate comprehension of these factors and their interaction is important for reconstructing diet and deriving characters for a cladistic analysis in fossil primates. Geometric morphometric analysis is used to identify axes of shape variation in the lower second molars of (a) prosimian primates and (b…
Craniomandibular signals of diet in adapids
OBJECTIVES: The craniomandibular morphology of the adapid primates of Europe, especially Adapis and Leptadapis (sensu lato), suggests that they possessed enormous jaw adductor muscles. The goal of this study is to estimate jaw adductor muscle mass, physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA), and fiber length in adapid primates from the Eocene of Europe. We also estimated muscle leverage, bite force, and gape parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We u…
Maximum ingested food size in captive anthropoids
OBJECTIVES: Maximum ingested food size (Vb ) is an empirically tested performance variable that can shed light on feeding energetics and adaptation in the masticatory system. Until now, this variable had been tested in strepsirrhines alone among primates. Here, we present the first data on Vb in a broad sample of anthropoid primates and describe scaling patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vb data on anthropoids were collected under captive condition…
Dental topography of platyrrhines and prosimians: Convergence and contrasts
Dental topographic analysis is the quantitative assessment of shape of three‐dimensional models of tooth crowns and component features. Molar topographic curvature, relief, and complexity correlate with aspects of feeding behavior in certain living primates, and have been employed to investigate dietary ecology in extant and extinct primate species. This study investigates whether dental topography correlates with diet among a diverse sample of l…
Genetic comparisons yield insight into the evolution of enamel thickness during human evolution
Enamel thickness varies substantially among extant hominoids and is a key trait with significance for interpreting dietary adaptation, life history trajectory, and phylogenetic relationships. There is a strong link in humans between enamel formation and mutations in the exons of the four genes that code for the enamel matrix proteins and the associated protease. The evolution of thick enamel in humans may have included changes in the regulation o…
Diet and dental topography in pitheciine seed predators
Pitheciines ( Pithecia , Chiropotes , and Cacajao ) are a specialized clade of Neotropical seed predators that exhibit postcanine teeth with low and rounded cusps and highly crenulated occlusal surface enamel. Data on feeding ecology show that Pithecia consumes proportionally more leaves than other pitheciine species, and comparative studies demonstrate its greater molar relief and relative shearing potential. However, data on pitheciine food mec…
New primate first metatarsals from the Paleogene of Egypt and the origin of the anthropoid big toe
Comparing Dirichlet normal surface energy of tooth crowns, a new technique of molar shape quantification for dietary inference, with previous methods in isolation and in combination
Inferred dietary preference is a major component of paleoecologies of extinct primates. Molar occlusal shape correlates with diet in living mammals, so teeth are a potentially useful structure from which to reconstruct diet in extinct taxa. We assess the efficacy of Dirichlet normal energy (DNE) calculated for molar tooth surfaces for reflecting diet. We evaluate DNE, which uses changes in normal vectors to characterize curvature, by directly com…
Throwing light on early human evolution in Africa
Sexual Dimorphism in the Pelvis of Microcebus
From syntax to synapomorphies
Dental topography of platyrrhines and prosimians: Convergence and contrasts
Dental topographic analysis is the quantitative assessment of shape of three‐dimensional models of tooth crowns and component features. Molar topographic curvature, relief, and complexity correlate with aspects of feeding behavior in certain living primates, and have been employed to investigate dietary ecology in extant and extinct primate species. This study investigates whether dental topography correlates with diet among a diverse sample of l…
Comparing Dirichlet normal surface energy of tooth crowns, a new technique of molar shape quantification for dietary inference, with previous methods in isolation and in combination
Inferred dietary preference is a major component of paleoecologies of extinct primates. Molar occlusal shape correlates with diet in living mammals, so teeth are a potentially useful structure from which to reconstruct diet in extinct taxa. We assess the efficacy of Dirichlet normal energy (DNE) calculated for molar tooth surfaces for reflecting diet. We evaluate DNE, which uses changes in normal vectors to characterize curvature, by directly com…
Diet and dental topography in pitheciine seed predators
Pitheciines ( Pithecia , Chiropotes , and Cacajao ) are a specialized clade of Neotropical seed predators that exhibit postcanine teeth with low and rounded cusps and highly crenulated occlusal surface enamel. Data on feeding ecology show that Pithecia consumes proportionally more leaves than other pitheciine species, and comparative studies demonstrate its greater molar relief and relative shearing potential. However, data on pitheciine food mec…
Genetic comparisons yield insight into the evolution of enamel thickness during human evolution
Enamel thickness varies substantially among extant hominoids and is a key trait with significance for interpreting dietary adaptation, life history trajectory, and phylogenetic relationships. There is a strong link in humans between enamel formation and mutations in the exons of the four genes that code for the enamel matrix proteins and the associated protease. The evolution of thick enamel in humans may have included changes in the regulation o…
New primate first metatarsals from the Paleogene of Egypt and the origin of the anthropoid big toe
Maximum ingested food size in captive anthropoids
OBJECTIVES: Maximum ingested food size (Vb ) is an empirically tested performance variable that can shed light on feeding energetics and adaptation in the masticatory system. Until now, this variable had been tested in strepsirrhines alone among primates. Here, we present the first data on Vb in a broad sample of anthropoid primates and describe scaling patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vb data on anthropoids were collected under captive condition…
Sexual Dimorphism in the Pelvis of Microcebus
Lower molar shape and size in prosimian and platyrrhine primates
The goal of this research is to evaluate the relative strength of the influences of diet, size, and phylogenetic signal on dental geometric shape. Accurate comprehension of these factors and their interaction is important for reconstructing diet and deriving characters for a cladistic analysis in fossil primates. Geometric morphometric analysis is used to identify axes of shape variation in the lower second molars of (a) prosimian primates and (b…
Craniomandibular signals of diet in adapids
OBJECTIVES: The craniomandibular morphology of the adapid primates of Europe, especially Adapis and Leptadapis (sensu lato), suggests that they possessed enormous jaw adductor muscles. The goal of this study is to estimate jaw adductor muscle mass, physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA), and fiber length in adapid primates from the Eocene of Europe. We also estimated muscle leverage, bite force, and gape parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We u…
From syntax to synapomorphies
Sexual Dimorphism in the Pelvis of Microcebus
Throwing light on early human evolution in Africa
Comparing Dirichlet normal surface energy of tooth crowns, a new technique of molar shape quantification for dietary inference, with previous methods in isolation and in combination
Inferred dietary preference is a major component of paleoecologies of extinct primates. Molar occlusal shape correlates with diet in living mammals, so teeth are a potentially useful structure from which to reconstruct diet in extinct taxa. We assess the efficacy of Dirichlet normal energy (DNE) calculated for molar tooth surfaces for reflecting diet. We evaluate DNE, which uses changes in normal vectors to characterize curvature, by directly com…
New primate first metatarsals from the Paleogene of Egypt and the origin of the anthropoid big toe
Diet and dental topography in pitheciine seed predators
Pitheciines ( Pithecia , Chiropotes , and Cacajao ) are a specialized clade of Neotropical seed predators that exhibit postcanine teeth with low and rounded cusps and highly crenulated occlusal surface enamel. Data on feeding ecology show that Pithecia consumes proportionally more leaves than other pitheciine species, and comparative studies demonstrate its greater molar relief and relative shearing potential. However, data on pitheciine food mec…
Dental topography of platyrrhines and prosimians: Convergence and contrasts
Dental topographic analysis is the quantitative assessment of shape of three‐dimensional models of tooth crowns and component features. Molar topographic curvature, relief, and complexity correlate with aspects of feeding behavior in certain living primates, and have been employed to investigate dietary ecology in extant and extinct primate species. This study investigates whether dental topography correlates with diet among a diverse sample of l…
Genetic comparisons yield insight into the evolution of enamel thickness during human evolution
Enamel thickness varies substantially among extant hominoids and is a key trait with significance for interpreting dietary adaptation, life history trajectory, and phylogenetic relationships. There is a strong link in humans between enamel formation and mutations in the exons of the four genes that code for the enamel matrix proteins and the associated protease. The evolution of thick enamel in humans may have included changes in the regulation o…
Craniomandibular signals of diet in adapids
OBJECTIVES: The craniomandibular morphology of the adapid primates of Europe, especially Adapis and Leptadapis (sensu lato), suggests that they possessed enormous jaw adductor muscles. The goal of this study is to estimate jaw adductor muscle mass, physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA), and fiber length in adapid primates from the Eocene of Europe. We also estimated muscle leverage, bite force, and gape parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We u…
Maximum ingested food size in captive anthropoids
OBJECTIVES: Maximum ingested food size (Vb ) is an empirically tested performance variable that can shed light on feeding energetics and adaptation in the masticatory system. Until now, this variable had been tested in strepsirrhines alone among primates. Here, we present the first data on Vb in a broad sample of anthropoid primates and describe scaling patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vb data on anthropoids were collected under captive condition…
Lower molar shape and size in prosimian and platyrrhine primates
The goal of this research is to evaluate the relative strength of the influences of diet, size, and phylogenetic signal on dental geometric shape. Accurate comprehension of these factors and their interaction is important for reconstructing diet and deriving characters for a cladistic analysis in fossil primates. Geometric morphometric analysis is used to identify axes of shape variation in the lower second molars of (a) prosimian primates and (b…
Primate Behavior and Ecology (9 works) · Biology (8 works) · Evolution and Paleontology Studies (8 works) · Zoology (6 works) · Ecology (5 works) · Ecology (5 works) · Anatomy (4 works) · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation (4 works) · Anatomy (3 works) · Computer Science (3 works)