Abstract
Diets of the Oligocene anthropoidsAegyptopithecus zeuxis andApidium phiomense are inferred from measurements of the anterior and posterior dentition of these species. Ideas are presented which can be checked as the hypodigms expand. Comparisons with extant anthropoids demonstrate a probably frugivorous diet forA. zeuxis, while the diet ofA. phiomense was not characterized by a high degree of frugivory requiring extensive incisal preparation of food. Additional inferences about the diet ofA. phiomense might be gleaned from future examination of incisor morphology, implantation and occlusion. Even when allowance is made for the presence of P2 inA. phiomense, the dietary position of this species with respect to extant anthropoids is equivocal, and it is possible that the normal anthropoid relationship between anterior and posterior dentitions, with a small incisor span correlating with a great amount of mastication, had yet to be developed.
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This report is based in part on an invited paper “Function in primate masticatory musculature as demonstrated by muscle weights” delivered at the symposium “The Behavioral and Morphological Adaptations to Diet Among Primates,” 46th Annual Meeting, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Seattle, Washington, April 13–16, 1977.
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Cachel, S. Diet of the Oligocene anthropoidsAegyptopithecus andApidium . Primates 24, 109–117 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381458
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381458