Dissertation Research: Dietary Reconstruction in Small- Bodied Fossil Primates

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The ability of anthropologists to determine aspects of an animal's diet from morphological characteristics of its dentition has greatly increased in recent years, especially through the use of new techniques such as SEM (scanning electron microscope) examination of minute wear characteristics of the teeth. The Principal Investigators will utilize this technique to determine food categories of a diverse group mammals, including primates, and use this information to make inferences about the diet of an important group of Early Cenozoic primates, the Omomyidae. This study will be the first to assess quantitatively hypotheses about dietary reconstruction of early fossil primates. The potential application of this study for understanding dietary aspects of other fossil taxa is great.