Abrasive, silica phytoliths and the evolution of thick molar enamel in primates, with implications for the diet of Paranthropus boisei.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Primates--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 findings

From a combination of dietary data and evidence for the levels of phytoliths in plant families in the literature, we calculated the p

SUBMITTER: Rabenold D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3233556 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature