Dental Macrowear in Catarrhine Primates: variability across species

Abstract

Dental macrowear is caused by a cumulative loss of enamel and dentine, principally due to attrition and abrasion, reflecting the interaction between feeding behavior and a species’ environment [1,2]. Previous studies have quantified dental macrowear in relation to absolute time (age) in individually known primates, or relative tooth wear rates between molars, and these have demonstrated variability in dental macrowear rates among species [3-7]. Also, increased consumption of gritty foods, dust or soil consumption, and seasonal droughts have been related to higher tooth wear rates in some species; dental wear may also be related to fitness components [5,6, 8-11]. However, within primates, comparative data that would allow delineating the contribution of these factors are lacking.In the present study, we analyze variability in dental macro wear in twenty living catarrhine species (Table 1), using Percent of Dentine Exposure (PDE) as a proxy of dental macro wear. Our specific aims are to:-Analyze the dental macro wear rate between M1 and M3, following a standard approach [3,7] to detect variability across species.- Test possible sources of variation in dental macrowear in catarrhines, including: Super family (Cercopithecoidea or Hominoidea), general diet and enamel thickness (in mm)