Why study Diet?

1. 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”

2. 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

3. Tooth Types

4. Tooth Types Human Dentition

5. 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

6. Extant vs Extinct Data collection from the living primates

7. Diagnostic features Features of the skull used to determine dietary category • Incisors & canines • Molars & premolars • Cusps & crests • Enamel thickness • Massiter & temporalis muscles • Body size

8. Large incisors indicate • frugivore • Small incisors = carnivore • or insectivore Incisors & Canines Anterior Dentition • Get food in the mouth • Grooming • Scraping • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9. Incisors

10. Canines

11. Premolars & Molars Posterior Dentition • Folivores = low or high • Insectivores = tall, pointed • Carnivores = tall, pointed • Frugivores = low, rounded • Omnivore = low, rounded

12. Premolars & Molars Premolars& Molars

13. Premolars & Molars

14. Cusps & Crests Molar & premolar morphology cusp crest

15. Enamel thickness Thickness of the hard mineral surface covering the teeth

16. Dental Attrition Enamel wear

17. Muscles of mastication

18. Body size Diet dictates primate body size • Body-size tends to • correlate w/ dietary • regime • Folivore = largest • Insectivore = smallest • Frugivore = medium to large

19. Dietary strategies Categories of Diet for the Primates • Folivore - plants • Frugivore - fruit • Carnivore - meat • Insectivore - insects • Omnivore - mixed

20. 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.

21. Folivores

22. Folivores Consumes plant products; stems, leaves, shoots, roots

23. 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

24. Frugivores Consumes fruit, seeds, nuts

25. Frugivores Consumes fruit, seeds, nuts

26. 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

27. Carnivores Consumes animal protein, requires little supplementation

28. Insectivores Consumes insects • Small sized primates • High protein, but in small packets • Large canines • Sharp cusps & crests • Diet needs supplementation

29. Insectivores Consumes insects

30. 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

31. Omnivores Consumes a variety of food resources

34. Quiz Name the Dietary category for each skull