Dental microwear and microstructure in early oligocene primates from the Fayum, Egypt: implications for diet.

Textbook descriptions usually portray the Fayum anthropoideans as frugivores, with Parapithecus grangeri including a folivorous component in its diet and Apidium a component of hard-object feeding. Recent work with modern mammals has shown that analyses of both dental microwear and dental microstructure may yield insights into diet and tooth use. The purpose of this study was to combine these two techniques to gain a better perspective on the paleobiology of the Fayum higher primates. Dental microwear analyses involved the use of high resolution epoxy casts of Aegyptopithecus, Parapithecus, and Apidium housed in the Duke University Primate Center. Scanning electron micrographs were taken at x500, and all microwear features in each micrograph were digitized. For microstructure analyses, molar teeth were sectioned in a variety of planes, lightly etched, and photographed in the SEM. Results of the dental microwear analyses indicate that the three Fayum anthropoideans all clustered with modern primate frugivores but that there were also significant differences between Aegyptopithecus and the other two Fayum genera. By contrast, dental microstructure analyses showed important differences between Apidium and the other two genera. The reason for these differences probably lies in a combination of body size and dietary differences, with Aegyptopithecus occasionally feeding on hard objects and Apidium maximizing wear resistance through a unique emphasis of radial (rather than decussating) enamel.

[1]  M. O'Leary,et al.  Evolution of molar enamel microstructure in North American Notharctidae (primates) , 1996 .

[2]  M. Teaford,et al.  Preliminary examination of non-occlusal dental microwear in anthropoids: implications for the study of fossil primates. , 1996, American journal of physical anthropology.

[3]  K. Glander,et al.  DENTAL MICROWEAR AND DIET IN A WILD POPULATION OF MANTLED HOWLING MONKEYS (Alouatta palliata) , 1996 .

[4]  J. Thewissen,et al.  Enamel microstructure of Pakicetus (Mammalia: Archaeoceti) , 1995, Journal of Paleontology.

[5]  K. Glander,et al.  Dust accumulation in the canopy: a potential cause of dental microwear in primates. , 1995, American journal of physical anthropology.

[6]  E. Simons.  Egyptian oligocene primates: A review , 1995 .

[7]  P. Lucas,et al.  Significance of silica in leaves to long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). , 1995, Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology.

[8]  E. Simons,et al.  A remarkable cranium of Plesiopithecus teras (Primates, Prosimii) from the Eocene of Egypt. , 1994, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[9]  M. C. Maas.  Enamel microstructure in Lemuridae (Mammalia, Primates): assessment of variability. , 1994, American journal of physical anthropology.

[10]  P. Ungar,et al.  Incisor microwear of Sumatran anthropoid primates. , 1994, American journal of physical anthropology.

[11]  E. Simons,et al.  The Eocene Origin of Anthropoid Primates , 1994 .

[12]  M. C. Maas,et al.  A scanning electron-microscopic study of in vitro abrasion of mammalian tooth enamel under compressive loads. , 1994, Archives of oral biology.

[13]  M. C. Maas.  Enamel microstructure and molar wear in the greater galago, Otolemur crassicaudatus (Mammalia, Primates). , 1993, American journal of physical anthropology.

[14]  S. Strait.  Molar microwear in extant small-bodied faunivorous mammals: an analysis of feature density and pit frequency. , 1993, American journal of physical anthropology.

[15]  A. Walker,et al.  A new species of Proconsul from the early Miocene of Rusinga/Mfangano Islands, Kenya , 1993 .

[16]  T. Molleson,et al.  Dietary change and the effects of food preparation on microwear patterns in the Late Neolithic of abu Hureyra, northern Syria , 1993 .

[17]  N. Solounias,et al.  New methods of tooth microwear analysis and application to dietary determination of two extinct antelopes , 1993 .

[18]  E. Simons.  Diversity in the early Tertiary anthropoidean radiation in Africa , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[19]  M. Teaford.  Theropithecus: Dental microwear and diet in extant and extinct Theropithecus : preliminary analyses , 1993 .

[20]  M. Teaford,et al.  Dental microwear and diet in Venezuelan primates. , 1992, American journal of physical anthropology.

[21]  K. Glander,et al.  Dental microwear in live, wild-trapped Alouatta palliata from Costa Rica. , 1991, American journal of physical anthropology.

[22]  M. C. Maas,et al.  Enamel structure and microwear: an experimental study of the response of enamel to shearing force. , 1991, American journal of physical anthropology.

[23]  E. Simons.  Discovery of the oldest known anthropoidean skull from the paleogene of Egypt. , 1990, Science.

[24]  Nicholas Thomas.  Out of Time: History and Evolution in Anthropological Discourse , 1990 .

[25]  M. Teaford,et al.  In vivo and in vitro turnover in dental microwear. , 1989, American journal of physical anthropology.

[26]  E. Simons,et al.  Description of two genera and species of late Eocene Anthropoidea from Egypt. , 1989, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[27]  M. Teaford,et al.  Seasonal or ecological differences in diet and molar microwear in Cebus nigrivittatus. , 1989, American journal of physical anthropology.

[28]  M F Teaford,et al.  Live primates and dental replication: new problems and new techniques. , 1989, American journal of physical anthropology.

[29]  A. Walker,et al.  Interpreting the diet of extinct ruminants: the case of a non-browsing giraffid , 1988, Paleobiology.

[30]  E. Simons,et al.  New specimens of Oligopithecus savagei, early Oligocene primate from the Fayum, Egypt. , 1988, Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology.

[31]  J. Fleagle,et al.  The phyletic position of the Parapithecidae , 1987 .

[32]  W. Koenigswald,et al.  Changes in the tooth enamel of early Paleocene mammals allowing increased diet diversity , 1987, Nature.

[33]  W. Jungers,et al.  Analysis of individual, intraspecific and interspecific variability in quantitative parameters of caprine tooth enamel structure. , 1987, Acta odontologica Scandinavica.

[34]  F. Grine.  Dental evidence for dietary differences in Australopithecus and Paranthropus: a quantitative analysis of permanent molar microwear , 1986 .

[35]  A. Boyde,et al.  Development, structure and function of rhinoceros enamel , 1986 .

[36]  Lawrence B. Martin.  Significance of enamel thickness in hominoid evolution , 1985, Nature.

[37]  Lawrence B. Martin,et al.  The Microstructure of Primate Dental Enamel , 1984 .

[38]  J. J. Rose.  A replication technique for scanning electron microscopy: Applications for anthropologists , 1983 .

[39]  E. Simons,et al.  The Fayum Primate Forest Revisited , 1982 .

[40]  E. Simons,et al.  A revision of the Oligocene apes of the Fayum Province, Egypt , 1981 .

[41]  R. F. Kay.  The Nut-Crackers - A New Theory of the Adaptations of the Ramapithecinae , 1981 .

[42]  W. Koenigswald,et al.  Functional and phylogenetic interpretation of enamel microstructure in rhinoceroses , 1980, Paleobiology.

[43]  R. Kay,et al.  The evolution of molar occlusion in the Cercopithecidae and early Catarrhines. , 1977, American journal of physical anthropology.

[44]  Ronald L. Iman,et al.  On some alternative procedures using ranks for the analysis of experimental designs , 1976 .

[45]  E. L. Simons.  The earliest apes. , 1967, Scientific American.

[46]  E. Simons.  New Fossil Apes from Egypt and the Initial Differentiation of Hominoidea , 1965, Nature.

[47]  N. A. Barnicot,et al.  A survey of some genetical characters in Ethiopian tribes. III. Haptoglobins and transferrins. , 1962, American journal of physical anthropology.