Dental Microwear and Diets of Late Miocene Primates From Rudabánya, Hungary

Objectives

This study focuses on a dental microwear texture analysis of European pliopithecids and dryopithecins from the Miocene primate site of Rudabánya, Hungary. The goal is to determine whether these taxa, found in part together in the same deposits, differed in their food preferences, or at least consumed, on a daily basis, in a manner that might have facilitated sympatry.

Materials and Methods

Here we report on a molar surface texture analysis of all available fossil primates from Rudabánya that preserve antemortem microwear. This includes both Anapithecus hernyaki (n = 14) and Rudapithecus hungaricus (n = 5, including one from Alsótelekes). Scanning confocal profilometry was used to generate point clouds, and texture complexity and anisotropy values were compared between the fossil taxa and contextualized with published data for an extant baseline series.

Results

Texture complexity and anisotropy values for both samples fall within the range of extant frugivorous primates. Further, while anisotropy does not differ between the fossil taxa, Rudapithecus has a significantly higher complexity average than Anapithecus.

Discussion

The difference in microwear texture complexity suggests that Rudapithecus individuals studied here consumed harder foods on average than did Anapithecus individuals did. This is consistent with the notion that dietary differences may have played a role in the niche separation of these taxa.