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Dental topographic analysis of paromomyid (Plesiadapiformes, Primates) cheek teeth: more than 15 million years of changing surfaces and shifting ecologies Project ID: 00000C345 Public
89 Media · 37 Specimens · Managed by: Sergi López-Torres

Plesiadapiforms, appearing near the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, represent the first primate radiation and show a diverse array of tooth morphologies. Dental topographic metrics provide quantitative data on occlusal surface shape. We used three metrics, Dirichlet Normal Energy, Relief Index, and 3D Orientation Patch Count Rotated, to assess changes in the morphology of lower fourth premolars and lower second molars in a taxonomically broad sample of one family of plesiadapiforms, Paromomyidae, stretching more than 15 million years. Our results indicate that paromomyids occupied a more diverse range of dietary categories than suspected. Whereas all paromomyids were likely omnivores, some species show higher levels of insectivory, while other taxa are inferred to have been mixed-feeding omnivores with high levels of fruit intake. The results also show that the more primitive members of the different paromomyid lineages were more insectivorous than the derived and more recent members of those lineages. Relief Index values also show taxonomic signals that are consistent with ancestor-descendant relationships hypothesised for species of Phenacolemur. These results suggest that dental topographic metrics are informative to the study of paromomyids for both dietary categorisation and for the distinction of species at a fine taxonomic level.

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  ID Part Object Taxonomy Type Date Added Publication Status  
000027236 Lower p4 usnm:paleobiology:521810 Phenacolemur fortior Mesh 2017-06-15 Restricted Download  
000027239 Lower p4 usnm:paleobiology:544792 Phenacolemur citatus Mesh 2017-06-15 Restricted Download  
000027229 Lower m2 usgs:21712 Phenacolemur citatus Mesh 2017-06-15 Restricted Download  
000027228 Lower p4 usgs:21712 Phenacolemur citatus Mesh 2017-06-15 Restricted Download  
000026885 Lower p4 usnm:paleobiology:544792 Phenacolemur citatus Volumetric Image Series 2017-06-09 Restricted Download  
000026884 Lower mandible usgs:21712 Phenacolemur citatus Volumetric Image Series 2017-06-09 Restricted Download  
000026883 Lower m2 ualvp:50990 Edworthia lerbekmoi Volumetric Image Series 2017-06-09 Restricted Download  
000027220 Lower m2 ualvp:50990 Edworthia lerbekmoi Mesh 2017-06-15 Restricted Download  
000027213 Lower p4 ualvp:50990 Edworthia lerbekmoi Mesh 2017-06-15 Restricted Download  
000026881 Lower p4 ualvp:50990 Edworthia lerbekmoi Volumetric Image Series 2017-06-09 Restricted Download  
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