Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Dust in the wind: How climate variables and volcanic dust affect rates of tooth wear in Central American howling monkeys.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Spradley, JP; Glander, KE; Kay, RF
Published in: American journal of physical anthropology
February 2016

Two factors have been considered important contributors to tooth wear: dietary abrasives in plant foods themselves and mineral particles adhering to ingested food. Each factor limits the functional life of teeth. Cross-population studies of wear rates in a single species living in different habitats may point to the relative contributions of each factor.We examine macroscopic dental wear in populations of Alouatta palliata (Gray, 1849) from Costa Rica (115 specimens), Panama (19), and Nicaragua (56). The sites differ in mean annual precipitation, with the Panamanian sites receiving more than twice the precipitation of those in Costa Rica or Nicaragua (∼3,500 mm vs. ∼1,500 mm). Additionally, many of the Nicaraguan specimens were collected downwind of active plinian volcanoes. Molar wear is expressed as the ratio of exposed dentin area to tooth area; premolar wear was scored using a ranking system.Despite substantial variation in environmental variables and the added presence of ash in some environments, molar wear rates do not differ significantly among the populations. Premolar wear, however, is greater in individuals collected downwind from active volcanoes compared with those living in environments that did not experience ash-fall.Volcanic ash seems to be an important contributor to anterior tooth wear but less so in molar wear. That wear is not found uniformly across the tooth row may be related to malformation in the premolars due to fluorosis. A surge of fluoride accompanying the volcanic ash may differentially affect the premolars as the molars fully mineralize early in the life of Alouatta.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

American journal of physical anthropology

DOI

EISSN

1096-8644

ISSN

0002-9483

Publication Date

February 2016

Volume

159

Issue

2

Start / End Page

210 / 222

Related Subject Headings

  • Wind
  • Volcanic Eruptions
  • Tooth Wear
  • Female
  • Anthropology, Physical
  • Anthropology
  • Animals
  • Alouatta
  • 4401 Anthropology
  • 4301 Archaeology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Spradley, J. P., Glander, K. E., & Kay, R. F. (2016). Dust in the wind: How climate variables and volcanic dust affect rates of tooth wear in Central American howling monkeys. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 159(2), 210–222. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22877
Spradley, Jackson P., Kenneth E. Glander, and Richard F. Kay. “Dust in the wind: How climate variables and volcanic dust affect rates of tooth wear in Central American howling monkeys.American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159, no. 2 (February 2016): 210–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22877.
Spradley JP, Glander KE, Kay RF. Dust in the wind: How climate variables and volcanic dust affect rates of tooth wear in Central American howling monkeys. American journal of physical anthropology. 2016 Feb;159(2):210–22.
Spradley, Jackson P., et al. “Dust in the wind: How climate variables and volcanic dust affect rates of tooth wear in Central American howling monkeys.American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 159, no. 2, Feb. 2016, pp. 210–22. Epmc, doi:10.1002/ajpa.22877.
Spradley JP, Glander KE, Kay RF. Dust in the wind: How climate variables and volcanic dust affect rates of tooth wear in Central American howling monkeys. American journal of physical anthropology. 2016 Feb;159(2):210–222.
Journal cover image

Published In

American journal of physical anthropology

DOI

EISSN

1096-8644

ISSN

0002-9483

Publication Date

February 2016

Volume

159

Issue

2

Start / End Page

210 / 222

Related Subject Headings

  • Wind
  • Volcanic Eruptions
  • Tooth Wear
  • Female
  • Anthropology, Physical
  • Anthropology
  • Animals
  • Alouatta
  • 4401 Anthropology
  • 4301 Archaeology