Brief communication: Enamel thickness and durophagy in mangabeys revisited

Abstract

The documentation of enamel thickness variation across primates is important because enamel thickness has both taxonomic and functional relevance. The Old World monkeys commonly referred to as mangabeys have figured prominently in investigations of feeding ecology and enamel thickness. In this article, we report enamel thickness values for four mangabey taxa (Cercocebus atys, Cercocebus torquatus, Lophocebus aterrimus, and Lophocebus albigena), offer revised interpretation of the significance of thick enamel in papionin evolution, and place our new data in a broader comparative framework. Our data indicate that all mangabeys have thick enamel and that the values obtained for Cercocebus and Lophocebus equal or exceed those published for most extant non-human primates. In addition, new field data combined with a current reading of the dietary literature indicate that hard foods make up a portion of the diet of every mangabey species sampled to date. Clarification on the relationship between diet and enamel thickness among mangabeys is important not only because of recognition that mangabeys are not a natural group but also because of recent arguments that explain thick enamel as an evolved response to the seasonal consumption of hard foods.

Dietary variation and food hardness in sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys): Implications for fallback foods and dental adaptation

“…We believe this argues against advocating a generalized, primate-wide relationship between the frequency of hard food consumption and thick enamel. We recently presented data indicating that mangabeys from both papionin clades have molar enamel which is among the thickest in the primate order (McGraw et al, 2012). The functional significance of thick enamel continues to be debated (e.g., Dumont, 1995;Kay, 1981;McGraw et al, 2012;Pampush et al 2013;Schwartz, 2000) and it is apparent that not all hard-object feeders are characterized by this trait (Teaford, 2007).…”

“…We recently presented data indicating that mangabeys from both papionin clades have molar enamel which is among the thickest in the primate order (McGraw et al, 2012). The functional significance of thick enamel continues to be debated (e.g., Dumont, 1995;Kay, 1981;McGraw et al, 2012;Pampush et al 2013;Schwartz, 2000) and it is apparent that not all hard-object feeders are characterized by this trait (Teaford, 2007). Nevertheless, there is persuasive evidence that thick enamel in Cercocebus and Lophocebus is a homoplastic feature acquired independently by each genus as part of a suite of adaptations associated with eating hard foods.…”

“…Previously we reported annual diet and food processing data on sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) in Cote d'Ivoire's Tai Forest (McGraw et al, , 2012. We demonstrated that the diet of sooty mangabeys at Tai consists of foods collected predominately from the forest's floor and shrub layers.…”

“…We did not examine how consumption of this food varies over any timeframe and, therefore, did not address issues of seasonality or the extent that Sacoglottis qualifies as a "fallback food". We also reported enamel thickness values for a variety of primates including C. atys and showed that both Lophocebus and Cercocebus (i.e., mangabeys from different clades) have molar enamel which is among the thickest of all primates (McGraw et al, 2012;Pampush et al, 2013).…”

Feeding and oral processing behaviors of two colobine monkeys in Tai Forest, Ivory Coast

“…Recent studies suggest that integrating these kinds of datasets has greater explanatory power than using more traditional diet categories. This approach has been applied to another Tai primatedthe sooty mangabey Cercocebus atysdand proven useful in addressing several themes on the evolution of feeding morphology and behavior (Daegling et al, 2011c;McGraw et al, 2011McGraw et al, , 2012.…”