Further away with dental microwear analysis: Food resource partitioning among Plio-Pleistocene monkeys from the Shungura Formation, Ethiopia

Merceron, Gildas; Kallend, Auria; Francisco, Arthur; Louail, Margot; Martin, Florian; Plastiras, Christos-Alexandros; Thiery, Ghislain; Boisserie, Jean‐Renaud

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110414

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(112 reference statements)

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“…The grinding facet shows several Hunter-Schreger bands on the very enamel surface -due to the fact that they are vertical in Rhinocerotoidea (Koenigswald et al, 2011) -and is more horizontal than the shearing facet which has a steep slope towards the labial side (Butler, 1952). To combine both types of facets with different functions indeed improves dietary reconstruction (Louail et al, 2021;Merceron et al, 2021). The enamel band on which we identified those two facets is localized labially near the protocone on upper molars and distally to the protoconid or hypoconid (if the protoconid is unavailable) on lower teeth (for an illustration see supplementary S2).…”

Section: Dental Microwear Texture Analyses (Dmta)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal diversity of dietary preferences and stress sensibilities of early and middle Miocene Rhinocerotidae from Eurasia: impact of climate changes

Hullot¹,

Merceron²,

Antoine³

2023

Peer Community Journal

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Section: Dental Microwear Texture Analyses (Dmta)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal diversity of dietary preferences and stress sensibilities of early and middle Miocene Rhinocerotidae from Eurasia: impact of climate changes

Hullot¹,

Merceron²,

Antoine³

2023

Peer Community Journal

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“…Previous work on the feeding habits of African Plio-Pleistocene Cercopithecidae, through analysis of stable isotopes and dental microwear, have mainly focused on Eastern Africa (Teaford, 1993;Ungar and Teaford, 1996;Cerling et al, 2011Cerling et al, , 2013aSponheimer et al, 2013;Levin et al, 2015;Shapiro et al, 2016;Robinson et al, 2017;Ungar et al, 2017;Martin et al, 2018;Souron, 2018;Manthi et al, 2020;Merceron et al, 2021) and Southern Africa (Lee-Thorp et al, 1989, 2010Daegling and Grine, 1999;Codron et al, 2005;El-Zaatari et al, 2005;Scott et al, 2005;Fourie et al, 2008;Williams and Patterson, 2010;Williams and Holmes, 2011;Sponheimer et al, 2013;Grine et al, 2020). In these studies, the most represented genera are Theropithecus, Parapapio, and Papio, among which there is a consensus on the predominance of a graminivore diet with a high component of C 4 -based resources for Theropithecus (Lee-Thorp et al, 1989;Cerling et al, 2013a;Levin et al, 2015;Souron, 2018) and more diverse food intake with a proportion of C 3 plants in the diet of Parapapio and Papio (Lee-Thorp et al, 1989;Codron et al, 2005;Fourie et al, 2008;Williams and Patterson, 2010;Levin et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiproxy approach to reconstruct fossil primate feeding behavior: Case study for macaque from the Plio-Pleistocene site Guefaït-4.2 (eastern Morocco)

Ramírez-Pedraza

Martínez²,

Aouraghe³

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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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.

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“…Primates that incorporated large amounts of small particles (phytoliths), exhibited flatter surfaces (Calandra et al, 2012). Other studies have suggested that graminivorous primate species such as T. gelada show a different occlusal microtexture pattern than other folivorous species ( Colobus guereza ), and savanna dwellers ( Papio hamadryas or Chlorocebus aethiops ) due to differences in height distribution and anisotropy‐based parameters, reflecting a pattern of finer, longer and denser striations for the colobine and wider striations for the gelada (Merceron et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three‐dimensional (3D) dental‐occlusal microtexture analysis based on the use of white‐light confocal microscopy, scale‐sensitive fractal analysis (SSFA, Ungar et al, 2003), and ISO surface texture parameters (Schulz et al, 2010) are established as a powerful tool from which to infer aspects of diet and the feeding ecology of extant and extinct primates (Calandra et al, 2012; Merceron et al, 2021; Scott et al, 2012). Studies of occlusal microtexture of Cercopithecoidea primates using scale‐sensitive fractal analysis found significant differences between species that include resources with different material properties (Scott et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ISO parameters have been applied in primates to test the deformation and fracture mechanics of occlusal-enamel, and to infer the diet of extinct and extant primates (Calandra et al, 2012;Merceron et al, 2021;Plastiras et al, 2022;Stuhlträger et al, 2019). These studies suggested that hard-fruit eaters Lophocebus albigena and Macaca fascicularis, whose diets incorporate a large proportion of seeds from fruits, fractured their enamel more heavily and demonstrate great texture relief, with high peaks and deep valleys.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Effectiveness of buccal dental‐microwear texture in African Cercopithecoidea dietary discrimination

Martínez

Estebaranz‐Sánchez

Romero

et al. 2022

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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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.

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Further away with dental microwear analysis: Food resource partitioning among Plio-Pleistocene monkeys from the Shungura Formation, Ethiopia

Cited by 13 publications

References 89 publications

Spatio-temporal diversity of dietary preferences and stress sensibilities of early and middle Miocene Rhinocerotidae from Eurasia: impact of climate changes

Spatio-temporal diversity of dietary preferences and stress sensibilities of early and middle Miocene Rhinocerotidae from Eurasia: impact of climate changes

Multiproxy approach to reconstruct fossil primate feeding behavior: Case study for macaque from the Plio-Pleistocene site Guefaït-4.2 (eastern Morocco)

Effectiveness of buccal dental‐microwear texture in African Cercopithecoidea dietary discrimination

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