Can dental microwear textures record inter-individual dietary variations?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Dental microwear analyses are commonly used to deduce the diet of extinct mammals. Conventional methods rely on the user identifying features within a 2D image. However, recent interdisciplinary research has lead to the development of an advanced methodology that is free of observer error, based on the automated quantification of 3D surfaces by combining confocal microscopy with scale-sensitive fractal analysis. This method has already proved to be very efficient in detecting dietary differences between species. Focusing on a finer, intra-specific scale of analysis, the aim of this study is to test this method's ability to track such differences between individuals from a single population.

Methodology/principal findings

For the purposes of this study, the 3D mola

SUBMITTER: Merceron G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2832010 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature