Objectives: This study compares ISO (ISO/FDIS 25178) roughness parameters, calculated from three-dimensional (3D) molar buccal microtexture surfaces, among African Cercopithecoidea primates with different diets. Materials and Methods:We examined 98 lower second molars from seven African Cercopithecoidea species with diverse dietary regimes and habitat exploitation. Buccal dental surfaces were analyzed using a Sensofar Plu Neox laser scanning confocal microscope. Thirty-eight, areal surface texture parameters were extracted (Mountain 7 ® software). Uni-and multivariate statistics were used to obtain diet-related patterns of buccal-microwear textures and feeding ecology to differentiate between species.Results: Buccal-dental 3D texture parameters discriminate between Cercopithecoidea diets. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant variation in microwear texture between forest-adapted Mandrillus sphinx, which showed coarse flat features, and grassland forager Theropithecus gelada, whose buccal surfaces were characterized by a high density of thin features. Buccal-microwear textures of folivorous species (Colobus polykomos) were related to a lower density of thicker surface indentations in comparison to Papio anubis and Cercocebus atys which are adapted to the consumption of tough and hard foods. The limited interspecific variation in the buccalmicrowear textures of savanna dwellers (Chlorocebus pygerythrus and Chlorocebus aethiops) probably reflects similarities in their foraging diets.Discussion: Significant variations between-species demonstrate that 3D microwear ISO roughness parameters applied to buccal enamel surfaces can distinguish between the diets of Cercopithecoidea.
The genus Macaca belongs to Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys), Cercopithecinae, Papionini. The presence of Macaca in North Africa is well known from the Late Miocene to the Late Pleistocene. However, the diet of fossil Macaca has been poorly described in the literature. In this study, we investigated the feeding habits of Macaca cf. sylvanus (n = 4) from the Plio-Pleistocene site Guefaït-4.2 in eastern Morocco through multiproxy analysis combining analyses of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from tooth enamel, buccal microtexture, and low-magnification occlusal dental microwear. For both microwear analyses, we compared the macaques with a new reference collection of extant members of Cercopithecoidea. Our occlusal microwear results show for the fossil macaque a pattern similar to the extant Cercocebus atys and Lophocebus albigena, African forest-dwelling species that are characterized by a durophagous diet based mainly on hard fruit and seed intake. Buccal microtexture results also suggest the consumption of some grasses and the exploitation of more open habitats, similar to that observed in Theropithecus gelada. The δ13C of M. cf. sylvanus indicates a C3 based-diet without the presence of C4 plants typical of the savanna grassland in eastern Africa during this period. The high δ18O values of M. cf. sylvanus, compared with the contemporary ungulates recovered from Guefaït-4.2, could be associated with the consumption of a different resource by the primate such as leaves or fresh fruits from the upper part of trees. The complementarity of these methods allows for a dietary reconstruction covering a large part of the individual’s life.
Our understanding of primate adaptive evolution depends on appreciating the way in which dental functional morphology affects food processing. The Papionini tribe of Cercopithecoidea primates shows great dietary versatility and ecological adaptations to resource seasonality across the African and Asian ecosystems, however, there are few studies focusing on the occlusal topography of the bilophodont teeth and the effect of tooth wear in the crown shape. Here, we explore the relationship between wear-related dental functional morphology and dietary ecological constraints within the Papionini. Three-dimensional (3D) polygonal meshes of the upper permanent molar row (M1-3) were obtained in a large papionine sample (838 specimens) of known dietary preferences including species from six genera (Cercocebus, Lophocebus, Macaca, Mandrillus, Papio, and Theropithecus). All the sample was classified in four diet categories and four topographic metrics (orientation patch count rotated, OPCR; Dirichlet normal energy, DNE; occlusal relief, OR; and ambient occlusion, portion de ciel visible, PCV) were measured for each tooth-type according to wear stage (lightly and moderately worn) to determine diet-related interspecific morphological changes with long-term functionality. The results indicate that hard-object feeders (Cercocebus and Lophocebus) and grass eaters (Theropithecus gelada) exhibit a pattern of occlusal complexity (OPCR), surface curvature (DNE), relief (OR), and morphological wear resistance (PCV) that is significantly different from the omnivores and folivore-frugivore species (Mandrillus and Macaca) despite the overall homogeneity of the bilophodont dentition. A multifactorial ANOVA showed that the topographic metrics were sensitive to tooth wear as expected. The results also indicate that the interspecific variability of dental topography of the upper molars reflects dietary specializations rather than phylogenetic proximity. These findings support the hypothesis that evolutionary convergence processes could have affected the Papionini, clustering the hard-object feeders (Lophocebus and Cercocebus) together in the morphospace, and clearly discriminating this group from the graminivorous and frugivores-folivores.
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