Dental topography and molar wear in Alouatta palliata from Costa Rica.
Abstract
Paleoprimatologists depend on relationships between form and function of teeth to
reconstruct the diets of fossil species. Most of this work has been limited to studies
of unworn teeth. A new approach, dental topographic analysis, allows the characterization
and comparison of worn primate teeth. Variably worn museum specimens have been used
to construct species-specific wear sequences so that measurements can be compared
by wear stage among taxa with known differences in diet. This assumes that individuals
in a species tend to wear their molar teeth in similar ways, a supposition that has
yet to be tested. Here we evaluate this assumption with a longitudinal study of changes
in tooth form over time in primates. Fourteen individual mantled howling monkeys (Alouatta
palliata) were captured and then recaptured after 2, 4, and 7 years when possible
at Hacienda La Pacifica in Costa Rica between 1989-1999. Dental impressions were taken
each time, and molar casts were produced and analyzed using dental topographic analysis.
Results showed consistent decreases in crown slope and occlusal relief. In contrast,
crown angularity, a measure of surface jaggedness, remained fairly constant except
with extreme wear. There were no evident differences between specimens collected in
different microhabitats. These results suggest that different individual mantled howling
monkeys wear their teeth down in similar ways, evidently following a species-specific
wear sequence. Dental topographic analysis may therefore be used to compare morphology
among similarly worn individuals from different species.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AlouattaAnimals
Costa Rica
Dental Impression Technique
Dental Occlusion
Environment
Odontometry
Tooth
Tooth Attrition
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6230Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1002/ajpa.10379Publication Info
Dennis, John C; Ungar, Peter S; Teaford, Mark F; & Glander, Kenneth E (2004). Dental topography and molar wear in Alouatta palliata from Costa Rica. Am J Phys Anthropol, 125(2). pp. 152-161. 10.1002/ajpa.10379. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6230.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Kenneth Earl Glander
Professor Emeritus of Evolutionary Anthropology
Primate ecology and social organization: the interaction between feeding patterns
and social structure; evolutionary development of optimal group size and composition;
factors affecting short and long-term demographic changes in stable groups; primate
use of regenerating forests.

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