Dissertation Research: Dietary Reconstruction in Small- Bodied Fossil Primates

近年来，人类学家根据动物牙列的形态特征确定动物饮食方面的能力大大提高，特别是通过使用新技术，如扫描电子显微镜(扫描电子显微镜)检查牙齿的微小磨损特征。首席调查员将利用这项技术来确定包括灵长类动物在内的各种哺乳动物的食物类别，并利用这些信息来推断早期新生代灵长类动物中的一个重要群体--Oomyidae。这项研究将首次对有关早期灵长类化石饮食重建的假设进行量化评估。这项研究对于了解其他化石类群的饮食方面具有很大的潜在应用价值。

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.