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Stuhlträger J, Kullmer O, Wittig RM, Kupczik K, Schulz-Kornas E. Variability in molar crown morphology and cusp wear in two Western chimpanzee populations. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 181:29-44. [PMID: 36807569 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) possess a relatively generalized molar morphology allowing them to access a wide range of foods. Comparisons of crown and cusp morphology among the four subspecies have suggested relatively large intraspecific variability. Here, we compare molar crown traits and cusp wear of two geographically close populations of Western chimpanzees, P. t. verus, to provide further information on intraspecific dental variability. MATERIALS AND METHODS Micro-CT reconstructions of high-resolution replicas of first and second molars of two Western chimpanzee populations from Ivory Coast (Taï National Park) and Liberia, respectively were used for this study. First, we analyzed projected tooth and cusp 2D areas as well as the occurrence of cusp six (C6) on lower molars. Second, we quantified the molar cusp wear three-dimensionally to infer how the individual cusps alter with advancing wear. RESULTS Both populations are similar in their molar crown morphology, except for a higher appearance rate of a C6 in Taï chimpanzees. In Taï chimpanzees, lingual cusps of upper molars and buccal cusps of lower molars possess an advanced wear pattern compared to the remaining cusps, while in Liberian chimpanzees this wear gradient is less pronounced. DISCUSSION The similar crown morphology between both populations fits with previous descriptions for Western chimpanzees and provides additional data on dental variation within this subspecies. The wear pattern of the Taï chimpanzees are in concordance with their observed tool rather than tooth use to open nuts/seeds, while the Liberian chimpanzees may have consumed hard food items crushed between their molars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Stuhlträger
- Former Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Group Animal Husbandry and Ecology, Group Animal Breeding, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Ottmar Kullmer
- Division of Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Paleobiology and Environment, Institute of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Roman M Wittig
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences, CNRS UMR5229 University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France
| | - Kornelius Kupczik
- Former Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Ellen Schulz-Kornas
- Former Max Planck Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Cariology, Endodontics and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Section Mammalogy and Palaeoanthropology, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change and University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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2
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Drummond-Clarke RC. Bringing trees back into the human evolutionary story: recent evidence from extant great apes. Commun Integr Biol 2023; 16:2193001. [PMID: 36969387 PMCID: PMC10038020 DOI: 10.1080/19420889.2023.2193001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Hypotheses have historically linked the emergence and evolution of defining human characteristics such as bipedal walking to ground-dwelling, envisioning our earliest ancestors as living in treeless savannahs (i.e. the traditional savannah hypothesis). However, over the last two decades, evidence from the fossil record combined with comparative studies of extant apes have challenged this hypothesis, instead favoring the importance of arboreality during key phases of hominin evolutionary history. Here we review some of these studies, including a recent study of savannah chimpanzees that provides the first model of how bipedalism could have been adaptive as an arboreal locomotor behavior in early hominins, even after the forests receded during the early Miocene-Pliocene transition. We suggest that whilst a shift to exploiting open habitats catalyzed hominin divergence from great apes, adaptations to arboreal living have been key in shaping what defines humans today, in counter to the traditional savannah hypothesis. Future comparative studies within and between great ape species will be instrumental to understanding variation in arboreality in extant apes, and thus the processes shaping human evolution over the last 3-7 million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhianna C. Drummond-Clarke
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsforschung, Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
- CONTACT Rhianna C. Drummond-Clarke Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
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3
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Drummond-Clarke RC, Kivell TL, Sarringhaus L, Stewart FA, Humle T, Piel AK. Wild chimpanzee behavior suggests that a savanna-mosaic habitat did not support the emergence of hominin terrestrial bipedalism. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eadd9752. [PMID: 36516260 PMCID: PMC9750136 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add9752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Bipedalism, a defining feature of the human lineage, is thought to have evolved as forests retreated in the late Miocene-Pliocene. Chimpanzees living in analogous habitats to early hominins offer a unique opportunity to investigate the ecological drivers of bipedalism that cannot be addressed via the fossil record alone. We investigated positional behavior and terrestriality in a savanna-mosaic community of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Issa Valley, Tanzania as the first test in a living ape of the hypothesis that wooded, savanna habitats were a catalyst for terrestrial bipedalism. Contrary to widely accepted hypotheses of increased terrestriality selecting for habitual bipedalism, results indicate that trees remained an essential component of the hominin adaptive niche, with bipedalism evolving in an arboreal context, likely driven by foraging strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Lauren Sarringhaus
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Fiona A. Stewart
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Tatyana Humle
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Alex K. Piel
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
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4
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van Casteren A, Codd JR, Kupczik K, Plasqui G, Sellers WI, Henry AG. The cost of chewing: The energetics and evolutionary significance of mastication in humans. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabn8351. [PMID: 35977013 PMCID: PMC9385136 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn8351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Any change in the energetic cost of mammalian mastication will affect the net energy gain from foods. Although the energetic efficiency of masticatory effort is fundamental in understanding the evolution of the human masticatory system, nothing is known currently about the associated metabolic costs of chewing different items. Here, using respirometry and electromyography of the masseter muscle, we demonstrate that chewing by human subjects represents a measurable energy sink. Chewing a tasteless odorless gum elevates metabolic rate by 10 to 15% above basal levels. Energy expenditure increases with gum stiffness and is paid for by greater muscle recruitment. For modern humans, it is likely that mastication represents a small part of the daily energy budget. However, for our ancestors, before the onset of cooking and sophisticated food processing methods, the costs must have been relatively high, adding a previously unexplored energetic dimension to the interpretation of hominin dentofacial fossils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam van Casteren
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- Max Planck Weizmann Center for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Corresponding author.
| | - Jonathan R. Codd
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Kornelius Kupczik
- Max Planck Weizmann Center for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Guy Plasqui
- Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | | | - Amanda G. Henry
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
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5
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Towle I, Irish JD, Sabbi KH, Loch C. Dental caries in wild primates: Interproximal cavities on anterior teeth. Am J Primatol 2021; 84:e23349. [PMID: 34855230 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Dental caries has been reported in a variety of primates, although it is still considered rare in wild populations. In this study, 11 catarrhine primate taxa (n = 339 individuals; 7946 teeth) were studied for the presence of caries. A differential diagnosis of lesions in interproximal regions of anterior teeth was undertaken, since they had been previously described as both carious and non-carious in origin. Each permanent tooth was examined macroscopically, with severity and position of lesions recorded. Two specimens were examined further, using micro-CT scans to assess demineralization. Differential diagnosis confirmed the cariogenic nature of interproximal cavities on anterior teeth (ICATs). Overall results show 3.3% of all teeth (i.e., anterior and posterior teeth combined) were carious (n = 262), with prevalence varying among species from 0% to >7% of teeth affected. Those with the highest prevalence of ICATs include Pan troglodytes verus (9.8% of anterior teeth), Gorilla gorilla gorilla (2.6%), Cercopithecus denti (22.4%), Presbytis femoralis (19.5%), and Cercopithecus mitis (18.3%). ICATs make up 87.9% of carious lesions on anterior teeth. These results likely reflect dietary and food processing differences among species, but also between the sexes (e.g., 9.3% of all female P. troglodytes verus teeth were carious vs. 1.8% in males). Processing cariogenic fruits and seeds with the anterior dentition (e.g., wadging) likely contributes to ICAT formation. Further research is needed in living primate populations to ascertain behavioral/dietary influences on caries occurrence. Given the presence of ICATs in frugivorous primates, their diagnosis in archaeological and paleontological specimens may shed light on diet and food processing behaviors in fossil primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian Towle
- Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Joel D Irish
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.,The Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Kris H Sabbi
- Department of Anthropology and Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
| | - Carolina Loch
- Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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6
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Lindshield S, Hernandez-Aguilar RA, Korstjens AH, Marchant LF, Narat V, Ndiaye PI, Ogawa H, Piel AK, Pruetz JD, Stewart FA, van Leeuwen KL, Wessling EG, Yoshikawa M. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in savanna landscapes. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:399-420. [PMID: 34542218 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are the only great apes that inhabit hot, dry, and open savannas. We review the environmental pressures of savannas on chimpanzees, such as food and water scarcity, and the evidence for chimpanzees' behavioral responses to these landscapes. In our analysis, savannas were generally associated with low chimpanzee population densities and large home ranges. In addition, thermoregulatory behaviors that likely reduce hyperthermia risk, such as cave use, were frequently observed in the hottest and driest savanna landscapes. We hypothesize that such responses are evidence of a "savanna landscape effect" in chimpanzees and offer pathways for future research to understand its evolutionary processes and mechanisms. We conclude by discussing the significance of research on savanna chimpanzees to modeling the evolution of early hominin traits and informing conservation programs for these endangered apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacy Lindshield
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - R Adriana Hernandez-Aguilar
- Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Amanda H Korstjens
- Life and Environmental Sciences Department, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, UK
| | | | - Victor Narat
- CNRS/MNHN/Paris Diderot, UMR 7206 Eco-anthropology, Paris, France
| | - Papa Ibnou Ndiaye
- Département de Biologie Animale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Hideshi Ogawa
- School of International Liberal Studies, Chukyo University, Toyota, Aichi, Japan
| | - Alex K Piel
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jill D Pruetz
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA
| | - Fiona A Stewart
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK.,School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Kelly L van Leeuwen
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, UK
| | - Erin G Wessling
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Midori Yoshikawa
- Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Ibaraki, Tokyo, Japan
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7
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A chimpanzee enamel-diet δ 13C enrichment factor and a refined enamel sampling strategy: Implications for dietary reconstructions. J Hum Evol 2021; 159:103062. [PMID: 34536662 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2020] [Revised: 08/01/2021] [Accepted: 08/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Reconstructing diets from stable carbon isotopic signals in enamel bioapatite requires the application of a δ13C enamel-diet enrichment factor, or the isotopic offset between diet and enamel, which has not been empirically determined for any primate. In this study, an enamel-diet enrichment factor (ε∗enamel-diet) of 11.8 ± 0.3‰ is calculated for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda, based on a comprehensive isotopic assessment of previously analyzed dietary plant data and new isotopic analyses of enamel apatite. Different enamel sampling methods are evaluated to determine the potential influence of weaning on isotopic enamel values and dietary interpretations. The new chimpanzee enrichment factor and a sampling strategy that excludes teeth that formed before weaning completion are applied to all known chimpanzee δ13Cenamel data, either previously published or newly derived in this study, resulting in a dietary range of almost 6‰ across all chimpanzees sampled. This new chimpanzee enamel-diet enrichment factor is then used to reassess dietary reconstructions of 12 fossil hominin species whose isotopic enamel signatures have been determined. Results reveal hominin diets that are isotopically more positive than previously reconstructed, highlighting the widespread contribution of 13C-enriched C4/crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) resources in fossil hominin diets and emphasizing the broad use of these resources during human evolution. These findings stress the importance of ascertaining and employing an appropriate enrichment factor for dietary reconstructions of specific taxa as well as standardizing the sampling protocol for tooth enamel in isotopic paleodietary reconstructions.
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8
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Tsutaya T, Ogawa NO, Nomura T, Shimizu M, Ohkouchi N, Kuze N. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic offsets between diet and hair/feces in captive orangutans. Primates 2021; 62:945-954. [PMID: 34415484 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-021-00940-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Estimating stable isotopic offset values is crucial for dietary reconstructions. Although research into stable isotope ecology of wild nonhuman primates is increasing overall, only a minority of studies involve laboratory experiments. This study is the first to report the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic offset values in hair and feces of orangutans. During an experiment lasting 1 week, the weight of each consumed food item was recorded for each of six captive Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) individuals. The food, hair, and fecal samples were collected for a few days, and their stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured using an elemental analyzer/isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Subsamples of feces were treated with ethanol during the preservation process. Monte Carlo analyses showed that the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the carbon and nitrogen offset values between hair and diet were +0.9‰ to +3.9‰ and +2.3‰ to +4.5‰, respectively. The 95% CIs of the carbon and nitrogen offset values between feces and diet were -3.7‰ to -0.9‰ and +0.3‰ to +2.7‰, respectively. The effect of ethanol treatment on the stable isotope ratios of feces was unclear and inconclusive. The computed offset values of hair in captive orangutans are similar to those reported in other nonhuman primates, although those of feces showed greater interspecies variations. The offset values estimated in this study contribute to isotopic studies into the feeding ecology of free-ranging orangutans who are critically endangered in most wild settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takumi Tsutaya
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa, 240-0193, Japan. .,Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Biogeochemistry Research Center, Research Institute for Marine Resources Utilization, Natsushima 2-15, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan.
| | - Nanako O Ogawa
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Biogeochemistry Research Center, Research Institute for Marine Resources Utilization, Natsushima 2-15, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan
| | - Toshiya Nomura
- Tama Zoological Park, Hodokubo 7-1-1, Hino, Tokyo, 191-0042, Japan
| | - Mika Shimizu
- Tama Zoological Park, Hodokubo 7-1-1, Hino, Tokyo, 191-0042, Japan.,Present address: Ikimonosha, Maya 714, Akaiwa, Okayama, 709-0825, Japan
| | - Naohiko Ohkouchi
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Biogeochemistry Research Center, Research Institute for Marine Resources Utilization, Natsushima 2-15, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan
| | - Noko Kuze
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Amakubo 4-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0005, Japan
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9
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Phillips S, Scheffrahn RH, Piel A, Stewart F, Agbor A, Brazzola G, Tickle A, Sommer V, Dieguez P, Wessling EG, Arandjelovic M, Kühl H, Boesch C, Oelze VM. Limited evidence of C4 plant consumption in mound building Macrotermes termites from savanna woodland chimpanzee sites. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0244685. [PMID: 33566803 PMCID: PMC7875366 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Stable isotope analysis is an increasingly used molecular tool to reconstruct the diet and ecology of elusive primates such as unhabituated chimpanzees. The consumption of C4 plant feeding termites by chimpanzees may partly explain the relatively high carbon isotope values reported for some chimpanzee communities. However, the modest availability of termite isotope data as well as the diversity and cryptic ecology of termites potentially consumed by chimpanzees obscures our ability to assess the plausibility of these termites as a C4 resource. Here we report the carbon and nitrogen isotope values from 79 Macrotermes termite samples from six savanna woodland chimpanzee research sites across equatorial Africa. Using mixing models, we estimated the proportion of Macrotermes C4 plant consumption across savanna woodland sites. Additionally, we tested for isotopic differences between termite colonies in different vegetation types and between the social castes within the same colony in a subset of 47 samples from 12 mounds. We found that Macrotermes carbon isotope values were indistinguishable from those of C3 plants. Only 5 to 15% of Macrotermes diets were comprised of C4 plants across sites, suggesting that they cannot be considered a C4 food resource substantially influencing the isotope signatures of consumers. In the Macrotermes subsample, vegetation type and caste were significantly correlated with termite carbon values, but not with nitrogen isotope values. Large Macrotermes soldiers, preferentially consumed by chimpanzees, had comparably low carbon isotope values relative to other termite castes. We conclude that Macrotermes consumption is unlikely to result in high carbon isotope values in either extant chimpanzees or fossil hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seth Phillips
- Anthropology Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
| | - Rudolf H. Scheffrahn
- Fort Lauderdale Research & Education Center, Davie, Florida, United States of America
| | - Alex Piel
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Stewart
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony Agbor
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Gregory Brazzola
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alexander Tickle
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Volker Sommer
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Gashaka Primate Project, Serti, Taraba, Nigeria
| | - Paula Dieguez
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Erin G. Wessling
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Mimi Arandjelovic
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hjalmar Kühl
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christophe Boesch
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Vicky M. Oelze
- Anthropology Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
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10
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Bădescu I, Sicotte P, Sandel AA, Desruelle KJ, Curteanu C, Watts DP, Sellen DW. Premasticated food transfer by wild chimpanzee mothers with their infants: Effects of maternal parity, infant age and sex, and food properties. J Hum Evol 2020; 143:102794. [PMID: 32371289 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2019] [Revised: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Premasticated food transfer, when an individual partially breaks down food through chewing and feeds it to another individual, usually mouth-to-mouth, is described widely across human cultures. This behavior plays an important role in modern humans' strategy of complementary feeding, which involves supplementing maternal milk in infant diets with processed, easily digestible versions of adult foods. The extent to which other primates engage in premasticated food transfer with infants is unclear, as premasticated food transfers have been only occasionally reported in other ape species. We investigated premasticated food transfers in 62 mother-infant pairs of wild chimpanzees at Ngogo, Uganda, as well as unresisted food taking, when mothers passively allow infants to seize food. We evaluated the presence or absence and rates of premasticated food transfer and unresisted food taking relative to maternal parity and infant age and sex and assessed the food species and part used. We found that chimpanzee mothers regularly shared premasticated food with their infants aged between 6 months and 4 years, but they were more likely to share, and more frequently shared, with younger infants. The frequency with which females shared premasticated food may relate to maternal experience, as multiparous females shared premasticated food more often than did first-time mothers, which we did not find with unresisted food taking. Both easy-to-chew, commonly eaten foods and tougher, rarely eaten foods were shared. Premasticated food transfer and unresisted food taking may be infant-rearing strategies to facilitate the transition from a diet of exclusive maternal milk to solid food during early infancy. Premasticated food transfer in particular may provide energetic, immune, or growth benefits to infants through reduced chewing effort and maternal saliva. Given our findings in chimpanzees and earlier reports in other ape species, we suggest that the foundation of complementary feeding, a uniquely hominin strategy, might have been present in a common ancestor shared with the other great apes in the form of premasticated, mouth-to-mouth food transfer by mothers with their offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iulia Bădescu
- Département D'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150 Jean-Brillant, Montréal, QC, H3T 1N8, Canada.
| | - Pascale Sicotte
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Aaron A Sandel
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, SAC 4.102, 2201 Speedway Stop C3200, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Kelly J Desruelle
- Département D'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150 Jean-Brillant, Montréal, QC, H3T 1N8, Canada
| | - Cassandra Curteanu
- Département D'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150 Jean-Brillant, Montréal, QC, H3T 1N8, Canada
| | - David P Watts
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 10 Sachem Street, New Haven, CT, 06511-3707, USA
| | - Daniel W Sellen
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S2, Canada
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11
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Wessling EG, Oelze VM, Eshuis H, Pruetz JD, Kühl HS. Stable isotope variation in savanna chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) indicate avoidance of energetic challenges through dietary compensation at the limits of the range. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 168:665-675. [PMID: 30693959 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2018] [Revised: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Food scarcity is proposed to be a limitation to chimpanzees at the limits of their range; however, such a constraint has never been investigated in this context. We investigated patterns of δ13 C and δ15 N variation along a latitudinal gradient at the northwestern West African chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) range limit with the expectation that isotope ratios of chimpanzees at the range limit will indicate different dietary strategies or higher physiological constraints than chimpanzees further from the edge. MATERIALS AND METHODS We measured δ13 C and δ15 N values in hair (n = 81) and plant food (n = 342) samples from five chimpanzee communities located along a latitudinal gradient in Southeastern Senegal. RESULTS We found clear grouping patterns in hair δ13 C and δ15 N in the four southern sites compared to the northernmost site. Environmental baseline samples collected from these sites revealed overall higher plant δ15 N values at the northernmost site, but similar δ13 C values across sites. By accounting for environmental baseline, Δ13 C and Δ15 N values were clustered for all five sites relative to total Pan variation, but indicated a 13 C-enriched diet at the range limit. DISCUSSION Clustering in Δ13 C and Δ15 N values supports that strategic shifting between preferred and fallback foods is a likely ubiquitous but necessary strategy employed by these chimpanzees to cope with their environment, potentially allowing chimpanzees at their limits to avoid periods of starvation. These results also underline the necessity of accounting for local isotopic baseline differences during inter-site comparison.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin G Wessling
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany
| | - Vicky M Oelze
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California
| | - Henk Eshuis
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jill D Pruetz
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas
| | - Hjalmar S Kühl
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany
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