Tracking Dietary Transitions in Weanling Baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis) Using Strontium/Calcium Ratios in Enamel

Humphrey, Louise; Dirks, Wendy; Dean, MC; Jeffries, Teresa

doi:10.1159/000113457

Cited by 43 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…They conducted spot analysis on the surfaces of tooth enamel sections. Similar BWP reconstruction using Sr concentration was performed on deciduous and permanent teeth from wild baboon individuals (Humphrey et al, 2008b). A recent study showed that changes in the Ba/Ca ratio in modern human deciduous and captive macaque permanent teeth enamel are consistent with known breastfeeding and weaning histories (Austin et al, 2013).…”

Section: Trace Element Analysis Of Tooth Enamel Apatitementioning

confidence: 95%

Reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices using stable isotope and trace element analyses: A review

Tsutaya

Yoneda

2014

American J Phys Anthropol

193

188

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biogeochemical methods using stable isotopes and trace elements have been increasingly developed and applied to reconstruct modern and ancient breastfeeding and weaning practices of mammals, including humans, because they offer direct proxies for the dietary intake of subadults. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes have been used to evaluate breast milk lipid, protein, and water intake, respectively. Carbon and sulfur isotopes have been used to estimate the content of weaning foods. The elemental concentrations of Sr and Ba in subadult tissues differ because of the dietary change during the weaning process. For analyses, various tissues have been used, such as hair, nail, blood, and feces for modern mammals and bone and teeth for ancient ones. Of these, trace element analysis of tooth enamel offers a good opportunity for the reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices of the more distant past at finer resolution, although further understanding of the metabolism of trace elements is necessary. There are various tissue-and element-specific advantages and disadvantages, and a combination of different proxies can illuminate practices from various viewpoints. Finally, applying the geochemical reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices to human ecology, primatology, and paleoanthropology is important; basic studies of the underlying physiological mechanisms and technical improvements in the analyses will further highlight avenues for future research. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 156:2-21, 2015. V C 2014 American Association of Physical AnthropologistsThe reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices (BWPs) of ancient human and other mammalian species is one of the most important fields in anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, and history. Infant feeding practices affect the overall health of the population because diet, health status, and growth at a young age have profound effects on an individual's later life (Dettwyler and Fishman, 1992;Katzenberg et al., 1996;WHO, 1998WHO, , 2009Lewis, 2007). Breastfeeding and weaning practices can be viewed from the evolutionary perspectives of life history theory, parental investment, child development, social system, and reproductive strat-

show abstract

Section: Trace Element Analysis Of Tooth Enamel Apatitementioning

confidence: 95%

Reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices using stable isotope and trace element analyses: A review

Tsutaya

Yoneda

2014

American J Phys Anthropol

193

188

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They also examined the histological tooth sections from the 2 anubis baboons we report on here, but other than noting the earlier onset of stress as represented by accentuated lines, they were unable to come to conclusions regarding their patterning [Dirks et al, 2002]. Our novel technique for tracking weaning using strontium/calcium ratios in the teeth of these 2 animals [Humphrey et al, 2008a[Humphrey et al, , 2008b allows us to revisit the pattern of stresses and ask specifically whether stress is recorded during the weaning process.…”

Section: Foliamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Superimposed over the background of periodic growth increments is a pattern of accentuated lines that records physiological stress during the development of the tooth [Boyde, 1990;Goodman and Rose, 1990;Guatelli-Steinberg, 2001;Dirks et al, 2002;FitzGerald and Saunders, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2006]. Here, we examine the pattern of stress in 2 anubis baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis) from Uganda, using a novel approach that combines tracing the weaning process with strontium/calcium ratios in the tooth enamel [Humphrey et al, 2008a[Humphrey et al, , 2008b and the pattern of accentuated increments to ask if weaning stress is recorded in tooth enamel. Dirks et al [2002] examined the pattern of accentuated increments in the dentitions of 2 female anubis-hamadryas hybrid baboons from Ethiopia and plotted their occurrence against rainfall records for the region over the course of their lives.…”

Section: Foliamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship of Accentuated Lines in Enamel to Weaning Stress in Juvenile Baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis)

Dirks¹,

Humphrey²,

Dean³

et al. 2010

IJFP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Weaning conflict may represent an evolutionary conflict of interest between parent and offspring, an honest signal of need on the part of a weanling, or both. Accentuated lines visible in histological sections of teeth are indicators of stress during enamel formation and have been hypothesised to form in baboon teeth during weaning. We analysed growth increments in 5 tooth sections from 2 Ugandan baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis), using polarised light microscopy, to determine when stresses occurred during the weaning process. Dietary transitions were reconstructed using normalised strontium intensities (Sr/Ca) in enamel. Accentuated lines were cross-matched between teeth from the same animal and plotted by month. The highest frequency of stress was experienced at around 6 months in 1 baboon, coinciding with an inferred reduction in suckling frequency, and at 11 months in another, coinciding with the inferred cessation of suckling. Because accentuated lines appear to indicate weaning stress at dietary transitions, weaning conflict may represent an honest signal of need on the part of the weanling.

show abstract

“…14), the most widely accepted biomarker for weaning practices is the nitrogen isotope ratio measured in hair, fingernails, bone, or dentine collagen (22)(23)(24)(25). The Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca elemental ratios in tooth enamel and dentine have also proved relevant for reconstructing early-life dietary transitions (1,26,27). Nevertheless, these various methods are possibly associated with one or several drawbacks.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing human weaning practices with calcium isotopes in tooth enamel

Tacail

Thivichon-Prince

Martin

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Weaning practices differ among great apes and likely diverged during the course of human evolution, but behavioral inference from the fossil record is hampered by a lack of unambiguous biomarkers. Here, we show that early-life dietary transitions are recorded in human deciduous tooth enamel as marked variations in Ca isotope ratios (δ 44/42 Ca). Using a sequential microsampling method along the enamel growth axis, we collected more than 150 enamel microsamples from 51 deciduous teeth of 12 different modern human individuals of known dietary histories, as well as nine enamel samples from permanent third molars. We measured and reconstructed the evolution of 44 Ca/ 42 Ca ratios in enamel from in utero development to first months of postnatal development. We show that the observed variations of δ 44/42 Ca record a transition from placental nutrition to an adult-like diet and that Ca isotopes reflect the duration of the breastfeeding period experienced by each infant. Typically, the δ 44/42 Ca values of individuals briefly or not breastfed show a systematic increase during the first 5-10 mo, whereas individuals with long breastfeeding histories display no measurable variation in δ 44/42 Ca of enamel formed during this time. The use of Ca isotope analysis in tooth enamel allows microsampling and offers an independent approach to tackle challenging questions related to past population dynamics and evolution of weaning practices in hominins.calcium isotopes | tooth enamel | dietary transitions | weaning | breast milk

show abstract

Tracking Dietary Transitions in Weanling Baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis) Using Strontium/Calcium Ratios in Enamel

Cited by 43 publications

References 53 publications

Reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices using stable isotope and trace element analyses: A review

Reconstruction of breastfeeding and weaning practices using stable isotope and trace element analyses: A review

The Relationship of Accentuated Lines in Enamel to Weaning Stress in Juvenile Baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis)

Assessing human weaning practices with calcium isotopes in tooth enamel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About