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

Thumbnail Image

Date

2016-03

Authors

Ungar, P.S.
Scott, J.R.
Steininger, C.M.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)

Abstract

Dental 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.

Description

Keywords

Diet, Fossil ruminants, Grit, Habitat, Tooth wear

Citation

Ungar, 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.

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By