the trait i was giving was dentition patterns, the definition of it is " the arrangement, type, and number of the teeth in a particular species." all animals have a detention pattern, all of which are cut out to do different jobs for helping them survive by chewing/ eating their food.
1) The lemurs dentition pattern consist of 6 teeth and 2 K9's on the bottom, and no teeth on the top but 2 more k9s as you can see, followed by the molars in the back which help the animal chew. the lemurs k9s are the "puncturing" tool while the 6 bottom teeth help rip apart the food, their teeth help them out in their environment because they feed on nuts and fruits.
2) the spider monkeys dentition pattern is as see in the pictures, 4 big K9S and smaller teeth, the spider monkeys have a diet that consists of smaller fruits such as berries and smaller nuts like almonds and seeds. they have smaller teeth which help the chewing process be a little easier then it comes to the smaller nuts and seeds. their teeth have adapted to the environments and the foods provided.
3) the gibbons dentition pattern consists of 4 large K9S and smaller teeth that have a little bit more of a flatter top to them, this is because they are practical plant eaters and that helps them gride up the plants they eat ; and they also eat meat, so the larger teeth are used to rip apart the meats. over all their teeth have adapted to their surrounds and help them get the food they need to survive.
4) the baboons dentition pattern consists of 4 very large K9S and also a mouth full of flat teeth,they primarily eat insects and on occasion will hunt for fish or eat birds. they teeth have a very sharp point to them, which come in handy when fighting for territory or hunting for the meat parts of their diets.
5) the chimpanzee's dentition pattern consists of the standard 4 K9s and what looks like the top row of teeth are thinner and flat just like human teeth. the chimps diet consist of about 50 percent fruits and the rest is insects, nuts and seeds as see below. their teeth have helped them in their environment, the stregth of their jaws are incompableandtheyr K9S are very adaptive to their surround environment
over all i feel like the environments of all these animals really do have a large effect on their detition patterns.due to the fact that without their teeth being fully up to parr, the animal would starve, these monkeys aren't like tigers where they have their large, killer teeth and big claws to help them achieve their foods. they are all mainly plant eaters and nut eaters. they primarily rely on their teeth to live and eat their gatherings..their teeth have adapted to their surrounds to make the eating/chewing style practical for them.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee
http://www.outtoafrica.nl/animals/engbaboon.html
For clarification, there is a specific accepted expression for dental formulas as outlined in your text. For example, lemurs have a dental formula of 2.1.3.3/2.1.3.3., which means that in each quadrant of their mouth (upper left and right and lower left and right), they have two incisors, one canine, three bicuspids and three molars. You've identified some of these, but not all, so make sure you review the actual dental formulas for all of these primates. Lemurs and New World monkeys in general share that dental formula while Old World monkeys and apes have one less bicuspid or 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3 One other suggestion: K9 is actually symbol used to indicate police units that use dogs with their officers. It shouldn't be used to indicate teeth. That should be spelled out as "canine".
ReplyDeleteThat said, dental formulas are only part of a primate's dentition and for lemurs you do raise an important issue of the shape (morphology) of the teeth. Lemur teeth have very sharp cusps which are used to pierce nuts and fruit and the carapaces of insects that are a significant part of their diet. This was good to highlight.
Lemurs and spider monkeys (and gibbonsn as well) have small teeth simply because they are small primates. It would not be possible for their jaws to support larger teeth. Diet can have some influence on the size of teeth but most size limitations come from the skeletal structure of the jaw and skull.
Good job highlighting the non-dietary influences on the baboon canine morphology.
Yes, gibbons (and chimpanzees) have flatter molar morphology to help them with the plant material they specialize in. Good connection.
Chimpanzee teeth and human teeth do share many similarities. Chimpanzees are opportunistic omnivores, eating pretty much whatever happens to be available. Humans are much like that. Do you think there is a connection there?
Make sure you correct your misconceptions on the dental formulas, but otherwise you did a good job of highlighting the unique tooth morphologies for each primate and connecting those shapes to the environmental influences for those primates, both dietary and non-dietary.
One other comment in review, keep in mind descriptions of the environment mean not just their geographical location. That section should have been expanded. It could have helped you make additional connections between the primate's environment and their dentition.
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