Primate Post: Dentition Patterns

Sifakas are a type of lemur. They live in the forests of Madagascar. The forests there are dry deciduous and semi evergreen and range from sea level to about 300 feet in elevation. There is a wide variety of plant life giving the Sifakas many different options for food.  They are herbivores eating mostly leaves, flowers, and fruits. Lucky for them there is abundance in their habitat. They are also the prey for many other animals that live there. Hawks, various raptors, and large constrictor snakes tend to prey on Sifakas. Sifakas have a very unique dentition pattern. They have what is called a toothcomb, which consists of a group of front teeth organized like a hair comb. They use this for grooming. They also have a larger tooth on each side, which assists in eating.  This set of teeth allows Sifakas to groom each other and scrape bark off trees for eating which is important in their environment.

Spider Monkeys live in the tropical rain forests of Central and Southern America. These are tropical  climates that consist of evergreen forests. They live in the trees, in the upper canopy. This allows them to hunt without being disturbed by other primates. Spider monkeys are omnivores. They mostly eat fruits and seeds. They also eat leaves, flowers, bark, insects, and bird eggs. Living in such a dense forests gives them a wide variety of food sources. Spider monkeys are the prey of jaguars, pumas, ocelots, and large snakes. These monkey’s dentition patterns differ from old world monkeys. The dental formula for them is 2.1.3.3. This means they have 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 2 or 3 molars. These type of teeth allow them to easily eat different types of food such as plants and animals. 

                      

The Olive Baboon lives throughout equatorial Africa. They can be found throughout 25 different countries ranging from the west to east coast. They generally live in savannahs near open grasslands or small wooded areas. This habitat consists of moist and evergreen forests. Since these baboons live throughout a wide range of land they must be able to adapt. They mainly forage and extract food from the ground, in the trees, and underground. They are omnivores that eat roots, fruits, leaves, flowers, buds, seeds, bark, cacti, grasses, insects, birds, bird eggs, and small animals. Olive Baboons, considered an old world monkey, has the dentition formula of 2.1.2.3. This means it has 2 premolars and 3 molars along with 2 incisors and 1 canine. These teeth allow them to eat plants as well as small animal prey that they come across throughout their habitat.

The Lars Gibbon is found in the tropical rainforests of southern and Southeast Asia. They mostly live in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. These forests are semi deciduous monsoon forests and tropical evergreen forests. They live in the upper canopy and rarely come to the floor of the forest. They mostly eat fruit such as figs, tree fruit, and berries. They also eat buds, flowers, and insects. Sometimes they will eat bird eggs. A few predators that hunt the Lars Gibbon are leopards, tigers, and pythons. The dentition pattern for the Lars Gibbon is similar to the old world monkeys. The formula is 2.1.2.3. The difference between Lars Gibbon and the Olive Baboon is that the canines are not as large and prominent. This is due to the fact that they do not need to find food by eating small animals.

Chimpanzees live in Africa, mostly in the rain forests, woodlands, and grasslands. They are omnivores but mostly eat fruit. They also eat leaves, bark, insects, and meat. Chimpanzees will even hunt other primates for food if they must. They will eat red-tailed monkeys, yellow baboons, and common warthogs. Their main worry as for predators are leopards and even humans. Chimpanzee’s teeth are the most similar to humans, except they have much larger canine teeth then ours. Even though they eat mostly fruit, chimps need large canines to get their fill of meat in their diet. Chimpanzees also use their teeth to warn enemies to stay back. 

After researching the dentition patterns among these five different species of primates, I have noticed that the pattern of their teeth reflects their diets. Each primate has a different set of teeth that allow it to eat the resources it has in its surrounding environment. Since these primates live all over the world, there is no way they can all have the same exact diet. This means they must adapt to their environment to survive. Dentition patterns is on trait that has changed throughout primates to better fit needs.