Comparative Primate Dentition Patterns

1.  Sifakas / Lemurs

a.       Sifakas / Lemurs are native to Madagascar, which consists of both an eastern rain forest and a western desert.  They are arboreal (living in trees), where they spend most of their time at the top of the canopy or in the forest’s mid-level. 

b.       Their dentition pattern is heterodent: having multiple tooth morphologies (molars, canines, incisors).  Their dental formula is 2,1,3,3 / 2,1,3,3, meaning a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 premolars with a tooth-comb structure. 

The Verreaux’s Sifaka, however, is distinguished by its unique dentition. Its dentition pattern is 2.1.2.3 / 2.0.2.3. The upper incisors are very small and are slightly angled inwards.  It also displays the tooth-comb, which projects past the front margin of the mouth.  It also presents the high, shearing molar crests of a folivore, helping to shread the leaves, fruit, and flowers that it eats.

c.       Sifakas / Lemurs have a diet consisting of mainly leaves, plants, fruits, seeds and sap.  Those Sifakas / Lemurs who primarily feed on leaves, have a smaller tooth-comb.  Those that primarily feed on fruit or sap, have adapted a larger tooth-comb to pluck seeds and cut through bark.  

                                               

2.        Spider Monkeys

a.       Spider Monkeys inhabit the rain forests from Central to South America.  They are arboreal and spend most of their time in the upper canopy of the rain forest.

b.      The dentition pattern of the Spider Monkey is 2,1,3,3 / 2,1,3,3.  Meaning, a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 molars.

c.       Spider Monkey diets consist primarily of fruits and nuts.  They use their incisors to pick fruits from the trees and their premolars and molars to break open and chew harder nuts.  

       

3.        Olive Baboons (Anubis Baboons)

a.        Olive baboons have the largest range of all baboons, and are widespread throughout equatorial Africa and are present in 25 countries. They are very adaptable and inhabit savannah areas, as well as large grassland plains and even evergreen tropical forests.  During the day they mostly spend their time on the ground, foraging for food, but at night they make their way up to mountain rocks or trees to avoid predators, which includes large cats, hyenas, wild dogs, chimpanzees and crocodiles.

b.      Baboons dentition pattern is 2,1,2,3 / 2,1,2,3 or a pattern of  2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars.  Males also have large canine teeth whereas the teeth of females are much smaller. Molars are large, and the first lower premolar has been modified into a hone for the upper canine. These primates have 32 teeth.

c.       The olive baboon is a frugivorous species, but leaves also constitute a major part of the diet. This species also eats flowers, roots, grasses, bark, twigs, sap, tubers, bulbs, mushrooms, lichens, aquatic plants, seeds, shoots, buds, invertebrates, and small vertebrates, such as gazelle. Females with infants mostly feed on the ground for grasses and on low bushes.  Given the diversity of the Baboon’s diet, the trait can be viewed as an adaptation as it allows the dentition to be omnivorous.  The large canines also aids the baboon to predate as well as defend against predation. 

 

4.       Lars Gibbon

a.       Lars Gibbons are mainly found in Southeast Asia and in a small portion of South Asia. They have the greatest north-south range of any of the gibbons. They are found in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.  In general, Lars Gibbons are found in lowland dipterocarp forests, hill dipterocarp forests, and upper dipterocarp forests, including primary lowland and lower elevation rainforest, mixed deciduous bamboo forest, and seasonal evergreen forests.  Lars Gibbons are usually found high in the canopy and are rarely found on the forest floor. 

b.      Gibbons share an identical dentition pattern to baboons; 2,1,2,3 / 2,1,2,3, or 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars. 

c.       The gibbon's favorite food are fruits, but they also eat leaves, tree bark, flowers, and plant shoots.  They also occasionally eat bird eggs and even small birds, insects, tree frogs and other small animals.  Like baboons the gibbon’s dentition pattern is an adaptation to allow it to consume a variety of foods and protect itself from predation.

     

5.      Chimpanzee

a.       Chimpanzees inhabit the rain forests and wet savannah areas within Africa.  They spend most of their time in trees, where they do most of their eating. Chimpanzees usually sleep in the trees as well, employing nests of leaves.  Chimps are generally fruit and plant eaters, but they also consume insects, eggs, and meat, including carrion. They have a tremendously varied diet that includes hundreds of known foods.

b.      The Chimpanzee dentition pattern is identical to the baboon and gibbon; 2,1,2,3 / 2,1,2,3 (2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars).

c.        Much like the baboon and gibbon, the chimpanzee’s dentition pattern has been adapted to allow it to eat a variety of foods, from fruits, seeds, plants and small animals.  It’s canines allow it to predate as well as defend itself from predation.