The Relationship of Enamel Microstructure to Molar Function and Wear in Strepsirhine Primates

这项研究将有助于了解 牙齿的显微结构与其 功能 具体而言，研究将集中在差异化 六种狐猴科灵长类动物的臼齿磨损。 而 这些物种是相关的，它们在以下方面存在明显的差异： 饮食习惯，因此反映了食物选择对 牙齿磨损。 在显微镜下，狐猴的臼齿 将釉棱柱捆绑成微晶， 通过称为棱柱的不连续性形成不同取向的微晶 边界 边界是差异磨损的来源， 是棱镜轴相对于磨损表面的方向。 磨损模式可以通过扫描电子显微镜 杜克大学灵长类动物研究所的尸体牙齿显微照片 中心 在狐猴科动物中， 形态学影响每个物种的剪切能力 食品. 马斯将测试 微观结构的差异掩盖了差异。 这是灵长类动物牙齿进化的一个方面， 大部分未开发。 澄清这一问题将有助于 解释灵长类化石记录。

This research will contribute to the understanding of the relationship of microscopic structure of teeth and their function. Specifically the research will focus on differenrtial molar wear in six, related forms of lemurid primates. While these species are related, they evidence clear differences in dietary practices and hence reflect the impact of food choice on dental wear. At a microscopic level, the molar teeth of lemurids are composed of enamel prisms bundled into crystallites separated from differently oriented crystallites by discontinuities called prism boundaries. The boundaries are sources of differential wear, as is the orietation of the prism axis relative to the wear surface. Wear patterns can be determined from scanning electron micrographs of teeth from cadavers at the Duke University Primate Center. Within the Lemurids, there is significant variation in molar morphology which impacts each species' ability to shear foodstuffs. Maas will test whether the gross morphological differences are paralleled by differences in the microstructure. This is an aspect of primate dental evolution which has been largely unexplored. Clarifying this issue will assist in interpreting the primate fossil record.