Merceron Gildas, Taylor Sarah, Scott Robert, Chaimanee Yaowalak, Jaeger Jean-Jacques
Neogene Paleoecology Working Group, Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.
Naturwissenschaften. 2006 Jul;93(7):329-33. doi: 10.1007/s00114-006-0107-0. Epub 2006 Apr 8.
The genus Khoratpithecus, a hominoid thought to be related to the orangutan lineage, is represented by two known fossil species K. chiangmuanensis and K. piriyai. Both were discovered in Southeast Asia (Thailand) and are dated to the Middle and Late Miocene, respectively. In this study, dental topographic and microwear texture analyses were used to examine molars from both of these species, with the goal of understanding their dietary preferences. Although sample sizes are small for Khoratpithecus, available data are compared to that collected for extant apes. Environmental evidence, such as botanical remains and sedimentological data, is also considered for comparisons with dietary reconstruction. Results from dental topographic analysis suggest that the two fossil species were better adapted to a diet of fruits than to one of leaves, much like the living orangutan or chimpanzee. Results from microwear texture analysis further support this, suggesting that Khoratpithecus preferred soft fruits to hard fruits or seeds. And finally, the botanical and sedimentological evidence point to environments for Khoratpithecus that would have been compatible with a fruit-eating species. Given the small sample sizes available for analysis, however, definitive judgments are not yet possible at this time.
科拉特猿属被认为与猩猩谱系有关，是一种类人猿，由两种已知化石物种——清迈科拉特猿和披里耶科拉特猿所代表。这两种化石均在东南亚（泰国）被发现，其年代分别为中新世中期和晚期。在本研究中，利用牙齿地形学和微磨损纹理分析来检查这两个物种的臼齿，目的是了解它们的饮食偏好。尽管科拉特猿属的样本量较小，但已有的数据与现存猿类收集的数据进行了比较。还考虑了环境证据，如植物遗骸和沉积学数据，以便与饮食重建进行比较。牙齿地形分析的结果表明，这两种化石物种更适应以水果为食的饮食，而不是树叶，这很像现存的猩猩或黑猩猩。微磨损纹理分析的结果进一步支持了这一点，表明科拉特猿属更喜欢软水果而不是硬水果或种子。最后，植物学和沉积学证据表明，科拉特猿属所处的环境与以水果为食的物种相适应。然而，鉴于可供分析的样本量较小，目前还无法做出明确的判断。
