Dietary reconstruction of small-bodied omomyoid primates

This study examined the dietary adaptations of 38 species of small-bodied o momyoid primates known from North America and Europe. Two parameters were e xamined to investigate the dietary proclivities of these early primates: bo dy mass and relative molar shearing crest development. Body mass was estima ted from dental dimensions. Based upon size distributions of modern mammals of known diets, species with estimated masses of under 500 g were categori zed as faunivores/frugivores. In order to partition this dietary grouping m ore precisely into faunivory and frugivory, measurements reflecting shearin g crest development were compared to an extant prosimian base line. Based o n these data it appears that the majority of the taxa sampled from this ear ly primate, radiation were primarily frugivorous.