Incisor microwear of Sumatran anthropoid primates

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8312014
AutoresPeter S Ungar (0000-0002-5936-471X, Duke University, autor correspondente)
Ano1994
Volume94
Fascículo3
Páginas339-363
Data de publicação1994-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330940305
PMID7943190
OpenAlexW2120661965
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas59
Referências citadas49

Several studies have suggested that incisor microwear reflects diet and feeding adaptations of anthropoids. However, such studies have been largely qualitative, and interpretations have relied on anecdotal references to diet and tooth use reported in the socioecology literature. The current study relates incisor microwear in four anthropoid primates to specific ingestive behaviors and food types. Central incisor casts of wild‐shot museum specimens of Hylobates lar, Macaca fascicularis, Pongo pygmaeus , and Presbytis thomasi were examined by scanning electron microscopy, and analyzed using a semiautomated image analysis procedure. Microwear patterns were used to generate predictions regarding diet and anterior tooth use. These predictions were evaluated using data collected during a 1 year study of feeding behavior of these same taxa in the wild (Ungar, 1992, 1994a, b). Results suggest that (1) enamel prism relief is associated with the effectiveness of etching reagents in foods, (2) dental calculus buildup results from a lack of incisor use and perhaps the ingestion of sugar‐rich foods, (3) striation density varies with degree of anterior tooth use in the ingestion of abrasive food items, (4) striation breadth is proposed to relate to the ratio of exogenous grit to phytoliths consumed; and (5) preferred striation orientation indicates the direction that food items are pulled across the incisors during ingestion. It is concluded that incisor microwear studies can contribute to the understanding of diets and feeding behaviors of extinct primates. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc

Biology · Enamel paint · Hylobates · Incisor · Ingestion · Pongo pygmaeus · Striation · Zoology · Anatomy · Dentistry · Ecology · Marine animal studies overview · Medicine · Paleontology · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation