Affiliation:
1. Department of Biomedical Sciences Marquette University Milwaukee Wisconsin USA
2. Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland USA
3. New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology Morphometrics Group New York New York USA
4. Department of Psychology Marquette University Milwaukee Wisconsin USA
5. College of Science and Engineering Flinders University Adelaide Australia
6. Department of Anthropology University of Arkansas Fayetteville Arkansas USA
Abstract
ABSTRACTPathologies of the skull and teeth are well documented for many human populations, but there are fewer studies of other primates. We contrast lesion prevalence and patterning among cercopithecoid primates and map variation onto socioecological variables. We compare craniodental lesions in six species: Nasalis larvatus (n = 54), Colobus polykomos (n = 64), Cercopithecus mitis (n = 65), Macaca fascicularis (n = 109), Theropithecus gelada (n = 13), and Papio anubis (n = 76). One of us (C.A.K.) evaluated each adult skull for multiple lesion types using standard criteria. We also tested for a relationship between lesion prevalence and cranial suture fusion (age proxy). We used nonparametric tests for sex and species differences as well as pathology co‐occurrence in SPSS. Socioecological data come from previous studies. Sex differences in lesion prevalence were only detected in P. anubis. Within taxa, some lesion types co‐occurred. In Macaca, the presence of caries was associated with several other lesion types. Pulp cavity exposure co‐occurred with TMJ osteoarthritis in multiple taxa. Among taxa, male P. anubis had higher lesion prevalences, particularly related to the anterior dentition and facial trauma. Because we did not detect a relationship between suture fusion and lesion prevalence, we propose that craniodental lesions may also be influenced by socioecological variables such as group composition and ratio of fruit to leaves in the diet. Our findings suggest that pain from pulp cavity exposure and related dental infections may alter chewing biomechanics and contribute to onset of TMJ osteoarthritis in nonhuman primates, as seen in humans. Further, we suggest that higher lesion prevalence in male baboons is likely related to male–male competition. Skeletal lesion analysis provides useful insight into primate socioecology, particularly for rare or difficult‐to‐observe phenomena, and provides additional biological context for our own species.