Download PowerPoint Presentation - Chapter 6 An Overview of the Primates

Why study Diet?
Utility for model building?
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Food provides energy necessary to
sustain life and allow for reproduction
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Main activity of most animals’ lives
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Major component of natural selection:
“obtain food and keep from becoming
food”
Why study teeth?
Utility for model building?
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Indicate foods consumed
Indicate size & behavior
 Well preserved in the fossil record
 Growth & development patterns
 Sexual dimorphism characteristics
 Non-dietary indicators
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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
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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
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Folivore - plants
Frugivore - fruit
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Carnivore - meat
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Insectivore - insects
Omnivore - mixed
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Folivores
Consumes plant products; stems, leaves, shoots, roots
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Low rounded cusps and crests
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Comparably sized incisors & canines
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Thin enamel
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Strong massiter muscles
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Larger body size
Special adaptations -- multi-chamber stomach
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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
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Large incisors

Thin enamel

Diet needs supplementation, leaves, soil, etc.

Larger body size
Canine size usually results from dimorphism
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Frugivores
Consumes fruit, seeds, nuts
Frugivores
Consumes fruit, seeds, nuts
Carnivores
Consumes animal protein, requires little supplementation
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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
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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