The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications

Abstract Dental cavities or caries is a common disease among modern humans, affecting almost every adult. Caries frequency has been used to study dietary change in humans over time, based on an inferred tie between the incidence of caries and a carbohydrate-rich diet. However, the disease is not uni...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Keegan R. Selig, Mary T. Silcox
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/adcedcdcca834e2a8df2f5173d372478
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:adcedcdcca834e2a8df2f5173d372478
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:adcedcdcca834e2a8df2f5173d3724782021-12-02T19:12:35ZThe largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications10.1038/s41598-021-95330-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/adcedcdcca834e2a8df2f5173d3724782021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95330-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Dental cavities or caries is a common disease among modern humans, affecting almost every adult. Caries frequency has been used to study dietary change in humans over time, based on an inferred tie between the incidence of caries and a carbohydrate-rich diet. However, the disease is not unique to our species. Among non-human primates, there is also variation in caries frequency associated with diet, suggesting that this metric may provide a mechanism for studying diet in broader contexts, and across geological time. To date, very few studies have examined caries among fossil mammals, and none have done so among Eocene mammals. Here, we present our analysis of the largest sample to date of fossil caries in a single extinct mammal species, Microsyops latidens, a stem primate from the early Eocene, which is known from over a thousand specimens from the Southern Bighorn Basin of Wyoming (n = 1030). Our results show that Microsyops latidens is characterized by a high prevalence of dental caries (7.48% of individuals), with notable variation through time, reaching 17.24% of individuals from a particular interval. This interval is also associated with a change in overall dental form, as quantified by dental topographic analysis, which measures functional aspects of the chewing surface of teeth. These observations suggest that this species experienced a shift in their diet to include more fruit or other sugar rich-foods for a short period. Our analysis, therefore, suggests that the diet of M. latidens fluctuated over time, as well as providing a framework for assessing caries in other fossil taxa.Keegan R. SeligMary T. SilcoxNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Keegan R. Selig Mary T. Silcox The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications
description	Abstract Dental cavities or caries is a common disease among modern humans, affecting almost every adult. Caries frequency has been used to study dietary change in humans over time, based on an inferred tie between the incidence of caries and a carbohydrate-rich diet. However, the disease is not unique to our species. Among non-human primates, there is also variation in caries frequency associated with diet, suggesting that this metric may provide a mechanism for studying diet in broader contexts, and across geological time. To date, very few studies have examined caries among fossil mammals, and none have done so among Eocene mammals. Here, we present our analysis of the largest sample to date of fossil caries in a single extinct mammal species, Microsyops latidens, a stem primate from the early Eocene, which is known from over a thousand specimens from the Southern Bighorn Basin of Wyoming (n = 1030). Our results show that Microsyops latidens is characterized by a high prevalence of dental caries (7.48% of individuals), with notable variation through time, reaching 17.24% of individuals from a particular interval. This interval is also associated with a change in overall dental form, as quantified by dental topographic analysis, which measures functional aspects of the chewing surface of teeth. These observations suggest that this species experienced a shift in their diet to include more fruit or other sugar rich-foods for a short period. Our analysis, therefore, suggests that the diet of M. latidens fluctuated over time, as well as providing a framework for assessing caries in other fossil taxa.
format	article
author	Keegan R. Selig Mary T. Silcox
author_facet	Keegan R. Selig Mary T. Silcox
author_sort	Keegan R. Selig
title	The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications
title_short	The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications
title_full	The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications
title_fullStr	The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications
title_full_unstemmed	The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications
title_sort	largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (mammalia, euarchonta, microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/adcedcdcca834e2a8df2f5173d372478
work_keys_str_mv	AT keeganrselig thelargestandearliestknownsampleofdentalcariesinanextinctmammalmammaliaeuarchontamicrosyopslatidensanditsecologicalimplications AT marytsilcox thelargestandearliestknownsampleofdentalcariesinanextinctmammalmammaliaeuarchontamicrosyopslatidensanditsecologicalimplications AT keeganrselig largestandearliestknownsampleofdentalcariesinanextinctmammalmammaliaeuarchontamicrosyopslatidensanditsecologicalimplications AT marytsilcox largestandearliestknownsampleofdentalcariesinanextinctmammalmammaliaeuarchontamicrosyopslatidensanditsecologicalimplications
_version_	1718377025463386112

The largest and earliest known sample of dental caries in an extinct mammal (Mammalia, Euarchonta, Microsyops latidens) and its ecological implications

Ejemplares similares