PowerPoint Presentation - Chapter 6 An Overview of the Primates
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Why study Diet?
Utility for model building?
Food provides energy necessary to
sustain life and allow for reproduction
Main activity of most animals’ lives
Major component of natural selection:
“obtain food and keep from becoming
food”
Why study teeth?
Utility for model building?
Indicate foods consumed
Indicate size & behavior
Well preserved in the fossil record
Growth & development patterns
Sexual dimorphism characteristics
Non-dietary indicators
Tooth Types
Tooth Types
Human Dentition
Roles of the teeth
Differential use in heterodont dentition
Incisors & canines - ingestion, get the food into the mouth
seizing, stripping, squashing, puncturing
Premolars & molars - preparation of food for digestion
food is chopped up to increase surface area
molars are a series of cutting blades and crushing
basin
Extant vs Extinct
Data collection from the living primates
Diagnostic features
Features of the skull used to determine dietary category
Incisors & canines
Molars & premolars
Cusps & crests
Enamel thickness
Massiter & temporalis muscles
Body size
Incisors & Canines
Anterior Dentition
• Get food in the mouth
• Grooming
• Scraping
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• Large incisors indicate
frugivore
• Small incisors = carnivore
or insectivore
Incisors
Canines
Premolars & Molars
Posterior Dentition
•Folivores = low or high
•Insectivores = tall,
pointed
•Carnivores = tall, pointed
•Frugivores = low,
rounded
•Omnivore = low, rounded
Premolars & Molars
Premolars
& Molars
Premolars & Molars
Cusps & Crests
Molar & premolar morphology
cusp
Enamel thickness
Thickness of the hard mineral surface covering the teeth
Dental Attrition
Enamel wear
Muscles of
mastication
Body size
Diet dictates primate body size
• Body-size tends to
correlate w/ dietary
regime
• Folivore = largest
• Insectivore = smallest
• Frugivore = medium
to large
Dietary strategies
Categories of Diet for the Primates
Folivore - plants
Frugivore - fruit
Carnivore - meat
Insectivore - insects
Omnivore - mixed
Folivores
Consumes plant products; stems, leaves, shoots, roots
Low rounded cusps and crests
Comparably sized incisors & canines
Thin enamel
Strong massiter muscles
Larger body size
Special adaptations -- multi-chamber stomach
Requires supplementation -- dirt, feces, etc.
Folivores
Folivores
Consumes plant products; stems, leaves, shoots, roots
Frugivores
Consumes fruit, seeds, nuts
High percentage of fruit; rich carbs, low protein
Large incisors
Thin enamel
Diet needs supplementation, leaves, soil, etc.
Larger body size
Canine size usually results from dimorphism
Frugivores
Consumes fruit, seeds, nuts
Frugivores
Consumes fruit, seeds, nuts
Carnivores
Consumes animal protein, requires little supplementation
Very high in protein
Consumes little else to aide in digestion
Plants/grasses
Long canines; small incisors
Sharp cusps & crests
Thin enamel
Large temporalis, small massiter
Carnivores
Consumes animal protein, requires little supplementation
Insectivores
Consumes insects
Small sized primates
High protein, but in small
packets
Large canines
Sharp cusps & crests
Diet needs supplementation
Insectivores
Consumes insects
Omnivores
Consumes a variety of food resources
All teeth of similar size
Moderate enamel thickness
Low cusps, dull crests
Comparably-sized temporalis & massiter
Dental reduction
Facial reduction
Omnivores
Consumes a variety of food resources
Quiz
Name the Dietary category for each skull