Tooth Wear Rates for Propithecus diadema in the Fragmented and Pristine Forests of Tsinjoarivo, Madagascar

Abstract

Primate teeth wear through time in response to their environment. This change in topography has the potential to affect nutrient absorption if mastication is less effective at reducing food particle size. Lemurs exhibit a broad range of diets and life history strategies, as well as adaptations for surviving in an unpredictable environment. Previous studies on diademed sifakas (Propithecus diadema) in Tsinjoarivo, Madagascar show that groups in fragmented forests eat a less diverse diet and use fallback foods year‐round, while sifakas living in pristine forests eat less preferred foods only during the lean season. Groups persist in fragments, yet these dietary changes may increase rates of tooth wear and have consequential deleterious effects on their lifetime fitness and population viability.Previous studies examining tooth wear over time have mainly focused on changes in slope, angularity, and surface relief, but frequently these studies use individuals with estimated age. By examining known‐aged individuals through time, specific patterns of dental wear can be correlated to variation in diet, sex, age, and habitat differences. In this study, dental molds of 75 individuals from 10 groups of Propithecus diadema were taken over a 15‐year period in both the fragmented and pristine forests of Tsinjoarivo. Tooth casts were scanned and analyzed with Geographic Information System (GIS) software to obtain values for relief index, slope, and angularity. All three of these factors decreased with age and show some significance among specific groups of sifakas but results show no effect of overall forest type on rates of tooth wear. Thus, while forest disturbance has demonstrated impact on diet, tooth wear did not accelerate as predicted. Future research should incorporate additional tooth wear data as these known‐aged lemurs advance in years, and examine the functional consequences of tooth wear more directly.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.