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Dental Traits (dental + trait)
Selected AbstractsThe ancient inhabitants of Jebel Moya redux: measures of population affinity based on dental morphologyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2007J. D. Irish Abstract This paper reexamines some of the methods and craniometric findings in the classic volume The Ancient Inhabitants of Jebel Moya (Sudan) (1955) by Mukherjee, Rao & Trevor, in light of recent archaeological data and relative to a new dental morphological study. Archaeological evidence characterises these inhabitants as having been heavily influenced by outside sources; yet they managed to establish and maintain their own distinctive culture as seen in the site features and surviving artefact collections. The dental study, modelled after the original craniometric-based investigation and using the same or similar comparative samples, detected complementary indications of outside biological influence. In the study, up to 36 dental traits were recorded in a total of 19 African samples. The most influential traits in driving inter-sample variation were then identified, and phenetic affinities were calculated using the Mahalanobis D2 statistic for non-metric traits. If phenetic similarity provides an estimate of genetic relatedness, these affinities, like the original craniometric findings, suggest that the Jebel Moyans exhibited a mosaic of features that are reminiscent of, yet distinct from, both sub-Saharan and North African peoples. Together, these different lines of evidence correspond to portray the Jebel Moya populace as a uniform, although distinct, biocultural amalgam. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Microevolutionary trends in the dentition of the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGICAL SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH, Issue 1 2003E. SZUMA Abstract Microevolutionary trends in dental traits were studied in a Polish population of the Red fox, Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758). Changes in qualitative and quantitative traits over a 70-year interval were analysed in 1453 museum specimens collected between 1927 and 1996. Over that period, there were qualitative trends towards increasing complication of occlusal crown surface in posterior premolars (i.e. P4, P3, P4) and I3. Other cheek teeth did not undergo directional change. Changes in trait correlations were assessed using samples from the 1960s and 1990s. The correlations between C1,C1 and M1,M2 increased, while correlation values in the incisor region (I1,I2, I1,I1, I1,I2, I3,I2), carnassial region (P4,M1, P4,M1 and M1,M1) and in P2,P1 decreased. These changes may be related to increasing dietary opportunism of the Red fox during the 20th century. Zusammenfassung In einer polnischen Population des Rotfuchses Vulpes vulpes (Linaeus, 1758) wurden Untersuchungen über den Trend von mikroevolutionären Prozessen an Merkmalen der Bezahnung angestellt. Dabei wurden die Veränderungen in qualitativen und quantitativen Merkmalen während eines Zeitraums von 70 Jahren an 1453 Museumsexemplaren, die zwischen 1927 und 1996 gesammelt worden waren, analysiert. Für diesen Zeitraum wurde ein Trend zu einer zunehmenden Komplikation in der Oberfläche der abschließenden Zahnkrone der hinteren Prämolaren (d.h. P4, P3, P4) und von I3 gefunden. Die anderen Backenzähne waren keinen direktionalen Veränderungen unterworfen. Korrelationen zwischen den Merkmalsveränderungen wurden für die Stichproben aus den 1960er- und 1990er-Jahre analysiert. Die Korrelationen zwischen C1 und C1 und zwischen M1,M2 verstärkten sich, während die Korrelationskoeffizienten in der Region der Schneidezähne (I1,I2, I1,I1, I1,I2, I3,I2), in der Region der Backenzähne und für P2,P1 abnahmen. Die Änderungen dürften auf einem zunehmenden Nahrungsopportunismus der Rotfüchse während des 20. Jahrhunderts beruhen. [source] Brief communication: Puncture and crushing resistance scores of Tana river mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus) diet itemsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Julie Wieczkowski Abstract Cercocebus mangabeys are characterized by dental traits that have been interpreted as adaptations to eat hard diet items. Although there are data that mangabeys include a large proportion of fruit and especially seeds in their diets, no hardness measurements have been done on mangabeys' food items. This study measured puncture and crushing resistance of food items in the diet of the Tana River mangabey (C. galeritus). Feeding data were collected by the use of scan samples from one mangabey group from August 2000 to July 2001 and from July 2005 to June 2006. Food items were collected during the latter period only, and from the same tree in or under which mangabeys had been observed eating. A portable agricultural fruit tester was used to measure the puncture resistance of fruit and a valve spring tester was used to measure the crushing resistance of seeds. The average puncture resistance of fruit was 1.7 kg/mm2, and the average crushing resistance of seeds was 12.8 kg. There were no correlations between puncture resistance, crushing resistance, or all resistance scores and frequency contribution to the diet. Resistance scores measured in this study were within the range of hardness scores of fruit and exceeded hardness scores of seeds eaten by other hard object feeders. Although this study supports the interpretation that Cercocebus dental traits are adaptations to hard object feeding, future research should investigate other material properties of food, as well as the role hard diet items play in niche separation and as fallback foods. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] New strepsirrhine primate from the late Eocene of Peninsular Thailand (Krabi Basin)AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Laurent Marivaux Abstract In this paper, we describe the newly discovered lower jaw of a primate from the late Eocene Krabi coal mine (Bang Mark pit) of Peninsular Thailand. We performed microtomographic examinations at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble, France) to analyze different morphological aspects of the jaw and teeth. Although partially preserved, this fossil mandible reveals a set of distinctive dental traits (e.g., double-rooted P2 and molarized P4) that allow us to describe a new stepsirrhine adapiform: Muangthanhinius siami, new genus and species. This taxon is somewhat atypical among Paleogene adapiforms, and more specialized than the sivaladapid adapiforms (hoanghoniines) that existed in Asia in the same epoch. In fact, Muangthanhinius shows a degree of dental specialization approximating that of some modern strepsirrhine lemuriforms, although it lacks the highly specialized anterior dentition characterizing this living primate group (canine + incisors forming a very procumbent toothcomb). In contrast, Muangthanhinius exhibits a large canine deeply anchored within the dentary that probably protruded high above the toothrow. Finally, despite the development of a molarized P4 as in Miocene sivaladapid sivaladapines, Muangthanhinius differs in molar morphology from this group, and the position of this new taxon within the Adapiformes remains indeterminate. Clarification of its phylogenetic position will require more morphological evidence than is currently available. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||