Food choices and habitat use by the Tana River yellow baboons (<i>Papio cynocephalus</i>): a preliminary report on five years of data

Bentley-Condit, Vicki K.

doi:10.1002/ajp.20670

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…the transverse movement of the mandible. Although all baboons eat and prefer corms, sometimes in considerable quantities [11]–[13], [70]–[73], they vary the intake on an inter-annual basis. This seasonal variation in consumption of C 4 corms is expected to dampen the isotopic composition of baboons’ tissues, although some populations were reported to have exceptionally high δ 13 C values [74].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Baboon Feeding Ecology Informs the Dietary Niche of Paranthropus boisei

Macho

2014

PLoS ONE

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Hominins are generally considered eclectic omnivores like baboons, but recent isotope studies call into question the generalist status of some hominins. Paranthropus boisei and Australopithecus bahrelghazali derived 75%–80% of their tissues’ δ13C from C4 sources, i.e. mainly low-quality foods like grasses and sedges. Here I consider the energetics of P. boisei and the nutritional value of C4 foods, taking into account scaling issues between the volume of food consumed and body mass, and P. boisei’s food preference as inferred from dento-cranial morphology. Underlying the models are empirical data for Papio cynocephalus dietary ecology. Paranthropus boisei only needed to spend some 37%–42% of its daily feeding time (conservative estimate) on C4 sources to meet 80% of its daily requirements of calories, and all its requirements for protein. The energetic requirements of 2–4 times the basal metabolic rate (BMR) common to mammals could therefore have been met within a 6-hour feeding/foraging day. The findings highlight the high nutritional yield of many C4 foods eaten by baboons (and presumably hominins), explain the evolutionary success of P. boisei, and indicate that P. boisei was probably a generalist like other hominins. The diet proposed is consistent with the species’ derived morphology and unique microwear textures. Finally, the results highlight the importance of baboon/hominin hand in food acquisition and preparation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Baboon Feeding Ecology Informs the Dietary Niche of Paranthropus boisei

Macho

2014

PLoS ONE

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“…A striking overlap exists between primates who exploit palms and those with thick molar enamel. All four extant primates with the highest known molar RETs (see Table 1) exploit palm fruits: Daubentonia madagascariensis [72]; Cebus apella [71]; Lophocebus albigena [73] and Papio cynocephalus [74]. The correlation between palm fruit consumption and thick molar enamel has commonly been attributed to the hardness of these fruits [12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrasive, Silica Phytoliths and the Evolution of Thick Molar Enamel in Primates, with Implications for the Diet of Paranthropus boisei

Rabenold

Pearson

2011

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundPrimates—including fossil species of apes and hominins—show variation in their degree of molar enamel thickness, a trait long thought to reflect a diet of hard or tough foods. The early hominins demonstrated molar enamel thickness of moderate to extreme degrees, which suggested to most researchers that they ate hard foods obtained on or near the ground, such as nuts, seeds, tubers, and roots. We propose an alternative hypothesis—that the amount of phytoliths in foods correlates with the evolution of thick molar enamel in primates, although this effect is constrained by a species' degree of folivory.Methodology/Principal FindingsFrom a combination of dietary data and evidence for the levels of phytoliths in plant families in the literature, we calculated the percentage of plant foods rich in phytoliths in the diets of twelve extant primates with wide variation in their molar enamel thickness. Additional dietary data from the literature provided the percentage of each primate's diet made up of plants and of leaves. A statistical analysis of these variables showed that the amount of abrasive silica phytoliths in the diets of our sample primates correlated positively with the thickness of their molar enamel, constrained by the amount of leaves in their diet (R2 = 0.875; p<.0006).Conclusions/SignificanceThe need to resist abrasion from phytoliths appears to be a key selective force behind the evolution of thick molar enamel in primates. The extreme molar enamel thickness of the teeth of the East African hominin Paranthropus boisei, long thought to suggest a diet comprising predominantly hard objects, instead appears to indicate a diet with plants high in abrasive silica phytoliths.

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“…The second analysis grouping consists of three mainly terrestrial, relatively open‐habitat African papionins: P. cynocephalus , P. ursinus , and T. gelada . Behavioral observations of extant Papio indicate a diet that is, if nothing else, flexible and variable (Dunbar, 1988; Whiten et al, 1991; Altmann, 1998; Bentley‐Condit, 2009). Food resources such as fruits and underground storage organs (USOs) tend to be consumed to varying degrees from population to population and species to species (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental microwear texture and anthropoid diets

Scott

Teaford

Ungar

2012

American J Phys Anthropol

168

188

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Dental microwear has long been used as evidence concerning the diets of extinct species. Here, we present a comparative baseline series of dental microwear textures for a sample of 21 anthropoid primate species displaying interspecific and intraspecific dietary variability. Four dental microwear texture variables (complexity, anisotropy, textural fill volume, and heterogeneity) were computed based on scale-sensitive fractal analysis and high-resolution three-dimensional renderings of microwear surfaces collected using a white-light confocal profiler. The purpose of this analysis was to assess the extent to which these variables reflect variation in diet. Significant contrasts between species with diets known to include foods with differing material properties are clearly evident for all four microwear texture variables. In particular, species that consume more tough foods, such as leaves, tended to have high levels of anisotropy and low texture complexity. The converse was true for species including hard and brittle items in their diets either as staples or as fallback foods. These results reaffirm the utility of dental microwear texture analysis as an important tool in making dietary inferences based on fossil primate samples.

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Food choices and habitat use by the Tana River yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus): a preliminary report on five years of data

Cited by 14 publications

References 16 publications

Baboon Feeding Ecology Informs the Dietary Niche of Paranthropus boisei

Baboon Feeding Ecology Informs the Dietary Niche of Paranthropus boisei

Abrasive, Silica Phytoliths and the Evolution of Thick Molar Enamel in Primates, with Implications for the Diet of Paranthropus boisei

Dental microwear texture and anthropoid diets

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