Dental microwear differences between eastern and southern African fossil bovids and hominins.

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dc.citation.doi10.17159/sajs.2016/20150393en_ZA
dc.citation.epage138en_ZA
dc.citation.issue3/4en_ZA
dc.citation.spage134en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorUngar, P.S.
dc.contributor.authorScott, J.R.
dc.contributor.authorSteininger, C.M.
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-27T08:38:25Z
dc.date.available2017-01-27T08:38:25Z
dc.date.issued2016-03
dc.description.abstractDental microwear has proven to be a valuable tool for reconstructing diets of fossil vertebrates. However, recent studies have suggested that the pattern of microscopic scratches and pits on teeth may be more reflective of environmental grit than of food preferences. Could differences in dental microwear between early hominins, for example, therefore be a result of dust level rather than of diet? We investigated this possibility using a palaeocommunity approach. We compared microwear texture differences between eastern and southern African Hominini, along with Plio-Pleistocene specimens representing two tribes of bovids, Alcelaphini and Antilopini, from the same deposits as the early hominins. If exogenous grit swamps diet signals, we would expect community-wide microwear patterns separating samples by region. Results indicate that each of the three tribes shows a different pattern of variation of microwear textures between eastern and southern Africa. These results imply that differences in microwear reflect diet rather than grit load, and that microwear can provide valuable information not just about environmental dust level, but about food preferences of fossil vertebrates.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianNCS2016en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationUngar, P.S., Scott, J.R. and Steininger, C.M. 2016. Dental microwear differences between eastern and southern African fossil bovids and hominins, South African Journal of Science 112(3/4): Article number 2015-0393.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0038-2353 (Print)
dc.identifier.issn1996-7489 (Online)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/21764
dc.journal.titleSouth African Journal of Scienceen_ZA
dc.journal.volume112en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherAcademy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)en_ZA
dc.rights© 2016. The Author(s). Published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.en_ZA
dc.subjectDieten_ZA
dc.subjectFossil ruminantsen_ZA
dc.subjectGriten_ZA
dc.subjectHabitaten_ZA
dc.subjectTooth wearen_ZA
dc.titleDental microwear differences between eastern and southern African fossil bovids and hominins.en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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