Incisor microwear and diet in three species of Colobus

Examination of incisor microwear in three species of Colobus revealed that the predominantly folivorous C. badius more closely resembles C. satanas, a seed predator/folivore, than C. guereza, another predominantly folivorous species. This demonstrates that species of the same broad dietary category can have very different patterns of incisor microwear, indicative of differences in food procurement behavior and/or the physical properties of dietary items for some portion of the diet. Conversely, species of different categories can have microwear patterns that, superficially at least, are quite similar. The dissimilarity in incisor microwear between C. badius and C. guereza is mirrored to a certain extent in molar microwear, although the differences are not nearly so great on the molars. The differences between C. badius and C. guereza may involve different food items in the major, folivorous portions of their diets, or they may relate to differences in the very minor fruit and bark components. The similar microwear patterns of C. badius and C. satanas demonstrate that incisor microwear by itself is unreliable for assigning fossil species to broad dietary categories. Incisor microwear can be used to infer finer dietary distinctions in fossil species for which dietary category has been determined by other means.