Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.

The Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei had enormous, flat, thickly enameled cheek teeth, a robust cranium and mandible, and inferred massive, powerful chewing muscles. This specialized morphology, which earned P. boisei the nickname "Nutcracker Man", suggests that this hominin co...

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Autores principales:	Peter S Ungar, Frederick E Grine, Mark F Teaford
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2008
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/720a7d4b882145cc8d23df1ef20cb9e3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:720a7d4b882145cc8d23df1ef20cb9e32021-11-25T06:12:41ZDental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0002044https://doaj.org/article/720a7d4b882145cc8d23df1ef20cb9e32008-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/18446200/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203The Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei had enormous, flat, thickly enameled cheek teeth, a robust cranium and mandible, and inferred massive, powerful chewing muscles. This specialized morphology, which earned P. boisei the nickname "Nutcracker Man", suggests that this hominin could have consumed very mechanically challenging foods. It has been recently argued, however, that specialized hominin morphology may indicate adaptations for the consumption of occasional fallback foods rather than preferred resources. Dental microwear offers a potential means by which to test this hypothesis in that it reflects actual use rather than genetic adaptation. High microwear surface texture complexity and anisotropy in extant primates can be associated with the consumption of exceptionally hard and tough foods respectively. Here we present the first quantitative analysis of dental microwear for P. boisei. Seven specimens examined preserved unobscured antemortem molar microwear. These all show relatively low complexity and anisotropy values. This suggests that none of the individuals consumed especially hard or tough foods in the days before they died. The apparent discrepancy between microwear and functional anatomy is consistent with the idea that P. boisei presents a hominin example of Liem's Paradox, wherein a highly derived morphology need not reflect a specialized diet.Peter S UngarFrederick E GrineMark F TeafordPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 3, Iss 4, p e2044 (2008)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Peter S Ungar Frederick E Grine Mark F Teaford Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.
description	The Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei had enormous, flat, thickly enameled cheek teeth, a robust cranium and mandible, and inferred massive, powerful chewing muscles. This specialized morphology, which earned P. boisei the nickname "Nutcracker Man", suggests that this hominin could have consumed very mechanically challenging foods. It has been recently argued, however, that specialized hominin morphology may indicate adaptations for the consumption of occasional fallback foods rather than preferred resources. Dental microwear offers a potential means by which to test this hypothesis in that it reflects actual use rather than genetic adaptation. High microwear surface texture complexity and anisotropy in extant primates can be associated with the consumption of exceptionally hard and tough foods respectively. Here we present the first quantitative analysis of dental microwear for P. boisei. Seven specimens examined preserved unobscured antemortem molar microwear. These all show relatively low complexity and anisotropy values. This suggests that none of the individuals consumed especially hard or tough foods in the days before they died. The apparent discrepancy between microwear and functional anatomy is consistent with the idea that P. boisei presents a hominin example of Liem's Paradox, wherein a highly derived morphology need not reflect a specialized diet.
format	article
author	Peter S Ungar Frederick E Grine Mark F Teaford
author_facet	Peter S Ungar Frederick E Grine Mark F Teaford
author_sort	Peter S Ungar
title	Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.
title_short	Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.
title_full	Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.
title_fullStr	Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.
title_full_unstemmed	Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.
title_sort	dental microwear and diet of the plio-pleistocene hominin paranthropus boisei.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2008
url	https://doaj.org/article/720a7d4b882145cc8d23df1ef20cb9e3
work_keys_str_mv	AT petersungar dentalmicrowearanddietofthepliopleistocenehomininparanthropusboisei AT frederickegrine dentalmicrowearanddietofthepliopleistocenehomininparanthropusboisei AT markfteaford dentalmicrowearanddietofthepliopleistocenehomininparanthropusboisei
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Dental microwear and diet of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin Paranthropus boisei.

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