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Schwermann AH, Schultz JA, Fuchs E, Leha A, Hummel J, Kullmer O, Steuer P, Martin T. Does age matter?-Efficiency of mechanical food break down in Tupaia belangeri at different ages. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0274439. [PMID: 37428732 PMCID: PMC10411959 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 07/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The relationship of food comminution and individual age in Tupaia belangeri is investigated. It is hypothesized that with increasing age the performance of the molar dentition decreases due to progressive tooth wear. While this relationship is well-documented for herbivores, age-related test series are largely lacking for insectivorous mammals. 15 individuals of Tupaia belangeri were fed exclusively with mealworms, and their faeces were analyzed for the number and size of chitin particles. The exoskeleton of a mealworm is resistant to digestive fluids in the gastrointestinal tract, and the size of individual chitin particles indicates the effectiveness of mechanical comminution that occurs in the oral cavity during mastication. It is hypothesized that a more precise occlusion of the dentition results in smaller particle size. Although individuals of all ages (juvenile, adult, and senile) were able to effectively process mealworms with their dentition prior to digestion, a larger area of very large chitin particles (98% quantile of all particles in senile animals as compared to in the same quantile in adults) in the feces of senile animals was detected. Even though the particle size of indigestible material is irrelevant for the digestive process, these findings either document somatic senescence in the functionality of the teeth, or alternatively a change in chewing behaviour with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Achim H. Schwermann
- LWL-Museum of Natural History, Westphalian State Museum and Planetarium,
Münster, Germany
| | - Julia A. Schultz
- Department of Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Universität Bonn,
Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Andreas Leha
- Department of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Göttingen,
Göttingen, Germany
| | - Jürgen Hummel
- Department of Animal Sciences, Ruminant Nutrition, University of
Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ottmar Kullmer
- Department of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute and
Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Paleobiology and Environment, Institute of Ecology,
Evolution, and Diversity, Goethe University, Frankfurt,
Germany
| | | | - Thomas Martin
- Department of Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Universität Bonn,
Bonn, Germany
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Janiak MC, Chaney ME, Tosi AJ. Evolution of Acidic Mammalian Chitinase Genes (CHIA) Is Related to Body Mass and Insectivory in Primates. Mol Biol Evol 2017; 35:607-622. [PMID: 29216399 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msx312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Insects are an important food resource for many primates, but the chitinous exoskeletons of arthropods have long been considered to be indigestible by the digestive enzymes of most mammals. However, recently mice and insectivorous bats were found to produce the enzyme acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase) to digest insect exoskeletons. Here, we report on the gene CHIA and its paralogs, which encode AMCase, in a comparative sample of nonhuman primates. Our results show that early primates likely had three CHIA genes, suggesting that insects were an important component of the ancestral primate diet. With some exceptions, most extant primate species retain only one functional CHIA paralog. The exceptions include two colobine species, in which all CHIA genes have premature stop codons, and several New World monkey species that retain two functional genes. The most insectivorous species in our sample also have the largest number of functional CHIA genes. Tupaia chinensis and Otolemur garnettii retain three functional CHIA paralogs, whereas Tarsius syrichta has a total of five, two of which may be duplications specific to the tarsier lineage. Selection analyses indicate that CHIA genes are under more intense selection in species with higher insect consumption, as well as in smaller-bodied species (<500 g), providing molecular support for Kay's Threshold, a well-established component of primatological theory which proposes that only small primates can be primarily insectivorous. These findings suggest that primates, like mice and insectivorous bats, may use the enzyme AMCase to digest the chitin in insect exoskeletons, providing potentially significant nutritional benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mareike C Janiak
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.,Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.,Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY
| | - Morgan E Chaney
- Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, OH.,School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH
| | - Anthony J Tosi
- Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, OH.,School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH
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Thiery G, Guy F, Lazzari V. Investigating the dental toolkit of primates based on food mechanical properties: Feeding action does matter. Am J Primatol 2017; 79. [PMID: 28150439 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2015] [Revised: 01/09/2017] [Accepted: 01/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Although conveying an indisputable morphological and behavioral signal, traditional dietary categories such as frugivorous or folivorous tend to group a wide range of food mechanical properties together. Because food/tooth interactions are mostly mechanical, it seems relevant to investigate the dental morphology of primates based on mechanical categories. However, existing mechanical categories classify food by its properties but cannot be used as factors to classify primate dietary habits. This comes from the fact that one primate species might be adapted to a wide range of food mechanical properties. To tackle this issue, what follows is an original framework based on action-related categories. The proposal here is to classify extant primates based on the range of food mechanical properties they can process through one given action. The resulting categories can be used as factors to investigate the dental tools available to primates. Furthermore, cracking, grinding, and shearing categories assigned depending on the hardness and the toughness of food are shown to be supported by morphological data (3D relative enamel thickness) and topographic data (relief index, occlusal complexity, and Dirichlet normal energy). Inferring food mechanical properties from dental morphology is especially relevant for the study of extinct primates, which are mainly documented by dental remains. Hence, we use action-related categories to investigate the molar morphology of an extinct colobine monkey Mesopithecus pentelicus from the Miocene of Pikermi, Greece. Action-related categories show contrasting results compared with classical categories and give us new insights into the dietary adaptations of this extinct primate. Finally, we provide some possible directions for future research aiming to test action-related categories. In particular, we suggest acquiring more data on mechanically challenging fallback foods and advocate the use of other food mechanical properties such as abrasiveness. The development of new action-related dental metrics is also crucial for primate dental studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghislain Thiery
- iPHEP: Institut de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine, Evolution et Paléoenvironnements, UMR CNRS 7262 INEE, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Franck Guy
- iPHEP: Institut de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine, Evolution et Paléoenvironnements, UMR CNRS 7262 INEE, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Vincent Lazzari
- iPHEP: Institut de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine, Evolution et Paléoenvironnements, UMR CNRS 7262 INEE, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
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St. Clair EM, Boyer DM. Lower molar shape and size in prosimian and platyrrhine primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 161:237-58. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M. St. Clair
- Center for Functional Anatomy and EvolutionJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore Maryland21205
| | - Doug M. Boyer
- Department of Evolutionary AnthropologyDuke UniversityDurham North Carolina27708
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Charles C, Solé F, Rodrigues HG, Viriot L. Under pressure? Dental adaptations to termitophagy and vermivory among mammals. Evolution 2013; 67:1792-804. [PMID: 23730770 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2012] [Accepted: 12/19/2012] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The extant mammals have evolved highly diversified diets associated with many specialized morphologies. Two rare diets, termitophagy and vermivory, are characterized by unusual morphological and dental adaptations that have evolved independently in several clades. Termitophagy is known to be associated with increases in tooth number, crown simplification, enamel loss, and the appearance of intermolar diastemata. We observed similar modifications at the species level in vermivorous clades, although interestingly the vermivorous mammals lack secondarily derived tools that compensate for the dentition's reduced function. We argue that the parallel dental changes in these specialists are the result of relaxed selection on occlusal functions of the dentition, which allow a parallel cascade of changes to occur independently in each clade. Comparison of the phenotypes of Rhynchomys, a vermivorous rat, and strains of mice whose ectodysplasin (EDA) pathway has been mutated revealed several shared dental features. Our results point to the likely involvement of this genetic pathway in the rapid, parallel morphological specializations in termitophagous and vermivorous species. We show that diets or feeding mechanisms in other mammals that are linked to decreased reliance on complex can lead to similar cascades of change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyril Charles
- Team Evo-Devo of Vertebrate Dentition, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Université de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5242, UCBL 1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, Lyon Cedex 07, France.
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Hossain SM, Blair R. Chitin utilisation by broilers and its effect on body composition and blood metabolites. Br Poult Sci 2007; 48:33-8. [PMID: 17364538 DOI: 10.1080/00071660601156529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
1. Little is known about the ability of farmed poultry to digest chitin and derive nutrients from the ingestion of insects. 2. Commercial chitin derived from crustacean shell waste was found to contain 373 g crude protein, 265 g ash, 23.5 g ether extract, 130 g calcium and 16.4 g phosphorus per kg, on an air-dry basis. 3. It was included in diets at 0, 25, 50 and 75 g chitin per kg and fed to 320 1-d-old broiler males, over a 21-d period. There were no statistically significant treatment effects on weight gain or feed efficiency. Apparent digestibility of chitin protein was 0.48, 0.50 and 0.45, at the 25, 50 and 75 g per kg inclusions, respectively. Mean AME and AMEN values of chitin were determined as 8.97 and 8.86 MJ/kg. 4. In a subsequent study, mean TME and TMEN values of chitin were determined to be 8.23 and 8.21 MJ per kg, respectively. Addition of chitinase to the diet increased TME and TMEN of chitin to 8.81 and 8.79 MJ per kg, respectively (P<0.05). True digestibility of chitin protein was determined to be 0.87. 5. Triglyceride concentrations in liver and breast meat were significantly reduced by chitin inclusion. No significant differences in carcase yield at 21 d of age were found. Serum cholesterol and triglycerol concentrations were reduced significantly by dietary chitin, the lowest levels being observed at the 50 g per kg inclusion level. 6. These findings indicate the ability of modern poultry to digest chitin but suggest that the ingestion of insects is not an important source of nutrients, at least from the exoskeleton.
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Affiliation(s)
- S M Hossain
- Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Avian Research Centre, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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MEYERS JAYJ, HERREL ANTHONY, NISHIKAWA KIISAC. Morphological correlates of ant eating in horned lizards (Phrynosoma). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2006. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00654.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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