Teeth, brains, and primate life histories

This paper explores the correlates of variation in dental development acros s the order Primates. We are particularly interested in how 1) dental preco city (percentage of total postcanine primary and secondary teeth that have erupted at selected absolute ages and life cycle stages) and 2) dental endo wment at weaning (percentage of adult postcanine occlusal area that is pres ent at weaning) are related to variation in body or brain size and diet in primates. We ask whether folivores have more accelerated dental schedules t han do like-sized frugivores, and if so, to what extent this is part and pa rcel of a general pattern of acceleration of life histories in more folivor ous taxa. What is the adaptive significance of variation in dental eruption schedules across the order Primates? We show that folivorous primate speci es tend to exhibit more rapid dental development ton an absolute scale) tha n comparably sized frugivores, and their dental development tends to be mor e advanced at weaning. Our data affirm an important role for brain (rather than body) size as a predictor of both absolute and relative dental develop ment. Tests of alternative dietary hypotheses offer the strongest support f or the foraging independence and food processing hypotheses. (C) 2001 Wiley -Liss, Inc.