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Krueger KL, Chwa E, Peterson AS, Willman JC, Fok A, van Heel B, Heo Y, Weston M, DeLong R. Technical note: Artificial Resynthesis Technology for the experimental formation of dental microwear textures. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 176:703-712. [PMID: 34405887 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Dental microwear formation on the posterior dentition is largely attributed to an organism's diet. However, some have suggested that dietary and environmental abrasives contribute more to the formation process than food, calling into question the applicability of dental microwear to the reconstruction of diet in the fossil record. Creating microwear under controlled conditions would benefit this debate, but requires accurately replicating the oral environment. This study tests the applicability of Artificial Resynthesis Technology (ART 5) to create microwear textures while mitigating the challenges of past research. ART 5 is a simulator that replicates the chewing cycle, responds to changes in food texture, and simulates the actions of the oral cavity. Surgically extracted, occluding pairs of third molars (n = 2 pairs) were used in two chewing experiments: one with dried beef and another with sand added to the dried beef. High-resolution molds were taken at 0, 50, 100, 2500, and 5000 simulated chewing cycles, which equates to approximately 1 week of chewing. Preliminary results show that ART 5 produces microwear textures. Meat alone may produce enamel prism rod exposure at 5000 cycles, although attrition cannot be ruled out. Meat with sand accelerates the wear formation process, with enamel prism rods quickly obliterated and "pit-and-scratch" microwear forming at approximately 2500 cycles. Future work with ART 5 will incorporate a more thorough experimental protocol with improved controls, pH of the simulated oral environment, and grit measurements; however, these results indicate the potential of ART 5 in untangling the complex variables of dental microwear formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin L Krueger
- Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Evan Chwa
- College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | | | - John C Willman
- Centro de Investigação em Antropologia (CIAS), Universidad de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Alex Fok
- Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Bonita van Heel
- Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Young Heo
- Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Michael Weston
- Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Ralph DeLong
- Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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Romero A, Ramirez-Rozzi FV, Cuesta-Torralvo E, Pérez-Pérez A. Age-related tooth wear in African rainforest hunter-gatherers. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 170:622-628. [PMID: 31599980 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 09/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Central African small-scale foragers subsist primarily on hunting game activities and wild plant-food gathering. Starch-rich tubers are underground storage organs (USOs) and staple food resources in savanna and tropical rainforests. However, little is known about the effect of USO consumption on tooth wear development in living hunter-gatherers. We report age- and sex-dependent tooth wear rates in forest-dwelling Baka Pygmies with well-documented wild-yam-tuber-based diet to explore the long-term impact of USO mechanical hardness and abrasiveness on the wearing down of the teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS Percentages of dentine exposure (PDEs) of permanent left mandibular first molars (M1 ) were recorded using in vivo high-resolution replicas of Baka individuals (aged 8-33 years), inhabiting Le Bosquet district in Cameroon (Western Africa). Regression and covariance analyses were used to test the effect of individual aging by sex on PDE rates. RESULTS We found a strong increase of PDE by age among Baka individuals. No evidence of sexual dimorphism in wear patterns suggests similar sex-related dietary and masticatory demands during growth. Overall, greatest dentine exposure values ≈4% denote unexpected slow wear down rates for foraging diets relying on USO consumption. DISCUSSION The low molar wear rates with age found in Baka Pygmies contrast with extensive wear rates in savanna-dwelling foragers, reflecting differences in thermal processing techniques affecting fracture toughness and grittiness of mechanically challenging foods. Our findings reveal that culture-specific dietary proclivities influence tooth wear among foraging behaviors with important implications in hominin dietary versatility and abrasive stress on chewing surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Romero
- Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
| | | | - Elisabeth Cuesta-Torralvo
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciencies Ambientals, Secció Zoologia i Antropologia Biològica, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Pérez
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciencies Ambientals, Secció Zoologia i Antropologia Biològica, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Schmidt CW, Remy A, Van Sessen R, Willman J, Krueger K, Scott R, Mahoney P, Beach J, McKinley J, D'Anastasio R, Chiu L, Buzon M, De Gregory JR, Sheridan S, Eng J, Watson J, Klaus H, Da-Gloria P, Wilson J, Stone A, Sereno P, Droke J, Perash R, Stojanowski C, Herrmann N. Dental microwear texture analysis of Homo sapiens sapiens: Foragers, farmers, and pastoralists. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 169:207-226. [PMID: 30888064 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Revised: 02/15/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The current study seeks to determine if a sample of foragers, farmers, and pastoralists are distinguishable based on their dental microwear texture signatures. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included a sample of 719 individuals from 51 archeological sites (450 farmers, 192 foragers, 77 pastoralists). All were over age 12 and sexes were pooled. Using a Sensofar® white-light confocal profiler we collected dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) data from a single first or second molar from each individual. We leveled and cleaned data clouds following standard procedures and analyzed the data with Sfrax® and Toothfrax® software. The DMTA variables were complexity and anisotropy. Statistics included ANOVA with partial eta squared and Hedges's g. We also performed a follow-up K-means cluster analysis. RESULTS We found significant differences between foragers and farmers and pastoralists for complexity and anisotropy, with foragers having greater complexity than either the farmers or the pastoralists. The farmers and pastoralists had greater anisotropy than the foragers. The Old World foragers had significantly higher anisotropy values than New World foragers. Old and New World farmers did not differ. Among the Old World farmers, those dating from the Neolithic through the Late Bronze Age had higher complexity values than those from the Iron Age through the medieval period. The cluster analysis discerned foragers and farmers but also indicated similarity between hard food foragers and hard food farmers. DISCUSSION Our findings reaffirm that DMTA is capable of distinguishing human diets. We found that foragers and farmers, in particular, differ in their microwear signatures across the globe. There are some exceptions, but nothing that would be unexpected given the range of human diets and food preparation techniques. This study indicates that in general DMTA is an efficacious means of paleodietary reconstruction in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ashley Remy
- Fluorescence Microscopy and Cell Imaging Shared Resource, Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Rebecca Van Sessen
- Department of Anthropology, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - John Willman
- IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.,Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
| | - Kristin Krueger
- Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Rachel Scott
- Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Patrick Mahoney
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
| | - Jeremy Beach
- Department of Anthropology, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | | | - Ruggero D'Anastasio
- Department of Anthropology, Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy
| | - Laura Chiu
- Department of Anthropology, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - Michele Buzon
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
| | | | - Susan Sheridan
- Department of Anthropology, Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
| | - Jacqueline Eng
- Department of Anthropology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
| | - James Watson
- School of Anthropology University of Arizona, Arizona State Museum, Tuscon, Arizona
| | - Haagen Klaus
- Sociology and Anthroplogy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.,Museo Nacional Sicán, Ferreñafe, Peru
| | - Pedro Da-Gloria
- Graduate Program in Anthropology, Federal University of Para, Belém, Brazil
| | - Jeremy Wilson
- Department of Anthropology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - Abigail Stone
- Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Paul Sereno
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Jessica Droke
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
| | - Rose Perash
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada
| | | | - Nicholas Herrmann
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas
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Brief communication: Dental microwear and diet of Homo naledi. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 166:228-235. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2017] [Revised: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Ungar PS, Scott JR, Steininger CM. Dental microwear differences between eastern and southern African fossil bovids and hominins. S AFR J SCI 2016. [DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2016/20150393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract Dental microwear has proven to be a valuable tool for reconstructing diets of fossil vertebrates. However, recent studies have suggested that the pattern of microscopic scratches and pits on teeth may be more reflective of environmental grit than of food preferences. Could differences in dental microwear between early hominins, for example, therefore be a result of dust level rather than of diet? We investigated this possibility using a palaeocommunity approach. We compared microwear texture differences between eastern and southern African Hominini, along with Plio-Pleistocene specimens representing two tribes of bovids, Alcelaphini and Antilopini, from the same deposits as the early hominins. If exogenous grit swamps diet signals, we would expect community-wide microwear patterns separating samples by region. Results indicate that each of the three tribes shows a different pattern of variation of microwear textures between eastern and southern Africa. These results imply that differences in microwear reflect diet rather than grit load, and that microwear can provide valuable information not just about environmental dust level, but about food preferences of fossil vertebrates.
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Estalrrich A, Young MB, Teaford MF, Ungar PS. Environmental perturbations can be detected through microwear texture analysis in two platyrrhine species from Brazilian Amazonia. Am J Primatol 2015; 77:1230-7. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2015] [Revised: 08/04/2015] [Accepted: 08/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Almudena Estalrrich
- Department of Paleobiology; Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC; Madrid Spain
| | - Mariel B. Young
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; Harvard University; Cambridge Massachusetts
| | - Mark F. Teaford
- Department of Physical Therapy; School of Health Sciences; High Point University; High Point North Carolina
| | - Peter S. Ungar
- Department of Anthropology; University of Arkansas; Fayetteville Arkansas
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L’Engle Williams F. Dietary proclivities of Paranthropus robustus from Swartkrans, South Africa. ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW 2015. [DOI: 10.1515/anre-2015-0001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Pleistocene Paranthropus robustus fossils from Swartkrans have yielded stable isotope values suggesting some foraging on C4 plants possibly including underground storage organs. Dental microwear texture analysis on P. robustus (SK 6, SK 34 and SK 47) from Swartkrans Member 1 is performed to examine whether tooth surface damage from mastication agrees with prior dietary inferences from carbon isotopes. There is considerable variation in textural characteristics among the P. robustus specimens. Specifically, adult SK 34 stands apart from the two subadult specimens, SK 6 and SK 47, suggesting life history could be reflected in patterns of dental microwear texture characteristics, although seasonality and availability of fallback foods may also explain the variation observed in P. robustus. The fossils all exhibit elevated surface texture complexity, resembling the values for Lophocebus albigena and Cebus apella, and to a lesser extent, Pan troglodytes. Paranthropus robustus is dissimilar to primary folivores, such as Trachypithecus cristatus or folivore- frugivores such as Alouatta palliata suggesting leaves comprised very little of its diet. The textural fill volume of P. robustus differs from that observed in extant primates from tropical forests indicating extreme durophagy, perhaps a function of differences in habitat. Ingestion of extraneous grit on the underground parts of plants and from terrestrial resources, perhaps as fallback foods or as dietary staples, may account for these enamel textural properties and may help explain the mixed C3/C4 isotopic signal in P. robustus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank L’Engle Williams
- Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
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McGraw WS, Vick AE, Daegling DJ. Dietary variation and food hardness in sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys): Implications for fallback foods and dental adaptation. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2014; 154:413-23. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2014] [Accepted: 04/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- W. Scott McGraw
- Department of Anthropology; The Ohio State University; Columbus OH 43210-1106
| | - Anna E. Vick
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Santa Fe College; Gainesville FL 32606
| | - David J. Daegling
- Department of Anthropology; University of Florida; Gainesville FL 32611-7305
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Berthaume MA. Tooth cusp sharpness as a dietary correlate in great apes. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 153:226-35. [PMID: 24227163 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2013] [Accepted: 10/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian molars have undergone heavy scrutiny to determine correlates between morphology and diet. Here, the relationship between one aspect of occlusal morphology, tooth cusp radius of curvature (RoC), and two broad dietary categories, folivory and frugivory, is analyzed in apes. The author hypothesizes that there is a relationship between tooth cusp RoC and diet, and that folivores have sharper teeth than frugivores, and further test the correlation between tooth cusp RoC and tooth cusp size. Eight measures of tooth cusp RoC (two RoCs per cusp) were taken from 53 M(2) s from four species and subspecies of frugivorous apes (Pongo pygmaeus, Pan troglodytes troglodytes, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, and Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and two subspecies of folivorous apes (Gorilla beringei beringei, and Gorilla beringei graueri). Phylogenetically corrected ANOVAs were run on the full dataset and several subsets of the full dataset, revealing that, when buccolingual RoCs are taken into account, tooth cusp RoCs can successfully differentiate folivores and frugivores. PCAs revealed that folivores consistently had duller teeth than frugivores. In addition, a weak, statistically significant positive correlation exists between tooth cusp size and tooth cusp RoC. The author hypothesizes differences in tooth cusp RoC are correlated with wear rates, where, per vertical unit of wear, duller cusps will have a longer length of exposed enamel ridge than sharper cusps. More data need to be gathered to determine if the correlation between tooth cusp RoC and tooth cusp size holds true when small primates are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A Berthaume
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; Medical and Biological Engineering Research Group, School of Engineering, University of Hull, UK
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Eng CM, Lieberman DE, Zink KD, Peters MA. Bite force and occlusal stress production in hominin evolution. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 151:544-57. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2012] [Accepted: 04/24/2013] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn M. Eng
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Harvard University; Cambridge; MA; 02138
| | - Daniel E. Lieberman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Harvard University; Cambridge; MA; 02138
| | - Katherine D. Zink
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Harvard University; Cambridge; MA; 02138
| | - Michael A. Peters
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Harvard University; Cambridge; MA; 02138
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Ungar PS. Dental evidence for the diets of Plio-Pleistocene hominins. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2012; 146 Suppl 53:47-62. [PMID: 22101687 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Diet is fundamental to the interaction between an organism and its environment, and is therefore an important key to understanding ecology and evolution. It should come as no surprise then that paleoanthropologists have put a great deal of effort into reconstructing the diets of Plio-Pleistocene hominins. Most of this effort has focused on teeth; these durable parts of the digestive system are usually the most commonly preserved elements in vertebrate fossil assemblages. In this article, I review much of this work. Tooth size, occlusal morphology, enamel thickness, and microstructure provide evidence for the physical properties of the foods to which a species was adapted. Dental microwear can offer insights into the properties of foods that an individual ate on a day-to-day basis. Taken together, these lines of evidence can offer important insights into early hominin food choices and adaptations. New methods of analysis and theoretical perspectives are improving our understanding of the diets of Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and early Homo, and promise further progress long into the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter S Ungar
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
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Abstract
We review the fossil and genetic evidence that relate to evolution in the genus Homo. We focus on the origin of Homo and on the evidence for taxonomic diversity at the beginning of the evolutionary history of Homo and in the last 200,000 years. We set out the arguments for recognizing a second early Homo taxon, Homo rudolfensis, and the arguments for and against including Homo habilis sensu stricto and Homo rudolfensis within Homo. We end by reviewing recent genomic evolution within Homo. The challenge of the upcoming decades is to meld innovations in molecular genetic methods and technology with evidence from the fossil record to generate hypotheses about the developmental bases of the phenotypic and behavioral developments we see within the genus Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard Wood
- Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology and
| | - Jennifer Baker
- Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology and
- Hominid Paleobiology Graduate Program, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052
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Anderson P, Harrison O, Cooper C, Jané-Llopis E. Incentives for health. JOURNAL OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION 2011; 16 Suppl 2:107-133. [PMID: 21916718 DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2011.601531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
This article discusses incentives to help make healthy choices the easy choices for individuals, operating at the levels of the individual, producers and service providers, and governments. Whereas paying individuals directly to be healthier seems to have a limited effect, offering financial incentives through health insurance improves health. Changing the environment to make healthier choices more accessible acts as an incentive to improve health. Employers can provide incentives to improve the health of their employees. Producers and service providers can take voluntary action to make their products less harmful, and they can be nudged into marketing healthier products within a regulatory environment. International agreements and monitoring systems can incentivize governments to do more for health. Lessons from climate change adaptation suggest that multilevel governance and policy integration are greater obstacles to policy change and implementation than knowing what has to be done. Policy change and implementation are triggered by many drivers, many of which are side effects of other policy pressures rather than of the direct policy goal itself. Effective action to reduce noncommunicable diseases will require leveraging social networks into a new ways of thinking about health; making better health prestigious and aspirational, and giving health and wellness a brand that encourages positive behavior change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Anderson
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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Ungar PS, Scott RS, Grine FE, Teaford MF. Molar microwear textures and the diets of Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:3345-54. [PMID: 20855308 PMCID: PMC2981952 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many researchers have suggested that Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis were among the earliest hominins to have diets that included hard, brittle items. Here we examine dental microwear textures of these hominins for evidence of this. The molars of three Au. anamensis and 19 Au. afarensis specimens examined preserve unobscured antemortem microwear. Microwear textures of these individuals closely resemble those of Paranthropus boisei, having lower complexity values than Australopithecus africanus and especially Paranthropus robustus. The microwear texture complexity values for Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis are similar to those of the grass-eating Theropithecus gelada and folivorous Alouatta palliata and Trachypithecus cristatus. This implies that these Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis individuals did not have diets dominated by hard, brittle foods shortly before their deaths. On the other hand, microwear texture anisotropy values for these taxa are lower on average than those of Theropithecus, Alouatta or Trachypithecus. This suggests that the fossil taxa did not have diets dominated by tough foods either, or if they did that directions of tooth-tooth movement were less constrained than in higher cusped and sharper crested extant primate grass eaters and folivores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter S Ungar
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Old Main 330, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
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Bobe R, Leakey MG. Ecology of Plio-Pleistocene Mammals in the Omo—Turkana Basin and the Emergence of Homo. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2009. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-9980-9_15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
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