Evolutionary and functional significance of hominoid tooth enamel

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate enamel thickness in extant and extinct hominoids. The material used in this study spans the evolutionary history of this group, from 20 million years ago to the present. The objectives of this investigation are to test three hypotheses: (1) the Loading Hypothesis: loading areas of the crown have thicker enamel than non-loading areas; (2) the Phyletic Hypothesis: differences in enamel thickness provide a basis for determining evolutionary relationships; and (3) the Functional Hypothesis: differences among hominoids result from adaptations to differing dietary and ecological habitats, that is from folivory to frugivory to hard object feeding and from tropical to forest to savanna habitats. Thin sections were prepared and polished to approximately 100 microm in thickness. Each section was then enlarged and digitally captured to the computer. Image processing and analysis software, SigmaImage (was used to measure the sections. Subsequent statistical analysis was conducted with SigmaStat and SPSS statistical software programs. The data provides statistical support for all hypotheses. In particular, the data support the proposal that "thick" enamel is the ancestral condition for the great apes and human clade. Therefore, Pongo would have retained its enamel thickness from the common ancestor of the great apes and Gorilla and Pan would have secondarily reduced enamel thickness to "thin." The common ancestor of the hominids, the australopithecines, would have "thick" enamel. The "hyper-thick" enamel of the australopithecines would be a derived character for this clade due to increased crushing and grinding and adaptation to savanna habitat. Homo would have secondarily reduced enamel thickness to "thick." Evolutionary biology of enamel differs markedly in hominids from that found in other hominoids and primates. Increased enamel thickness involved both increases in absolute thickness of enamel and crown size in response to increase masticatory loading.