Metric sexual dimorphism in the deciduous teeth of Old World monkeys

Metric variability of the deciduous teeth of several Old World monkey taxa were examined at the intergeneric and interspecific taxonomic levels. In general, the deciduous teeth of these taxa lack significant size sexual dimorphism with the exception of Papio cynocephalus. The data clearly demonstrate that male dimensions are not consistently larger than those of the females, in fact, female dimensions are frequently larger than those of the male. Thus, negative percentage sexual dimorphism is present in all species except Papio cynocephalus. Tooth size differences are randomly distributed among these species and do not appear to have any anatomical significance with respect to the different diets of the colobine and cercopithecine monkeys. This odontometric analysis reveals that it would be problematical to use deciduous tooth size as a basis for species identification with the possible exception of Papio cynocephalus.