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Early hominid diets from quantitative image analysis of dental microwear.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Grine, FE; Kay, RF
Published in: Nature
June 1988

The dietary habits of the early hominids Australopithecus and Paranthropus have long been debated. Robinson argued that the two species differed in the proportions of meat and vegetables consumed. More recently it has been suggested that Paranthropus, with its presumably larger body size, simply processed greater amounts of the same foods eaten by Australopithecus to maintain 'functional equivalence'. Microscopic dental wear patterns are related to the dietary habits of extant mammals, and quantification of these patterns is useful in distinguishing among primates with different diets. Nevertheless, few attempts have been made to use microwear in the reconstruction of early hominid diets, and only very recently has the quantification of such data been initiated. While microwear fabrics can be reduced to individual elements (for example, scratches and pits), there is some disagreement over exactly how they should be defined and measured. Fourier transforms have been applied successfully in the study of a variety of physical and biological patterns, and recently they have been used to characterize and distinguish different tooth wear patterns more objectively. Here we report the first combined use of image processing and other quantitative techniques to analyse the dental microwear of early hominids. Our results suggest that Paranthropus ate substantially more hard food items than Australopithecus.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Nature

DOI

EISSN

1476-4687

ISSN

0028-0836

Publication Date

June 1988

Volume

333

Issue

6175

Start / End Page

765 / 768

Related Subject Headings

  • Tooth Abrasion
  • Software
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Haplorhini
  • General Science & Technology
  • Diet
  • Dental Enamel
  • Animals
 

Citation

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Grine, F. E., & Kay, R. F. (1988). Early hominid diets from quantitative image analysis of dental microwear. Nature, 333(6175), 765–768. https://doi.org/10.1038/333765a0
Grine, F. E., and R. F. Kay. “Early hominid diets from quantitative image analysis of dental microwear.Nature 333, no. 6175 (June 1988): 765–68. https://doi.org/10.1038/333765a0.
Grine FE, Kay RF. Early hominid diets from quantitative image analysis of dental microwear. Nature. 1988 Jun;333(6175):765–8.
Grine, F. E., and R. F. Kay. “Early hominid diets from quantitative image analysis of dental microwear.Nature, vol. 333, no. 6175, June 1988, pp. 765–68. Epmc, doi:10.1038/333765a0.
Grine FE, Kay RF. Early hominid diets from quantitative image analysis of dental microwear. Nature. 1988 Jun;333(6175):765–768.
Journal cover image

Published In

Nature

DOI

EISSN

1476-4687

ISSN

0028-0836

Publication Date

June 1988

Volume

333

Issue

6175

Start / End Page

765 / 768

Related Subject Headings

  • Tooth Abrasion
  • Software
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Haplorhini
  • General Science & Technology
  • Diet
  • Dental Enamel
  • Animals