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Martínez LM, Estebaranz-Sánchez F, Ferràndez-Cañadell C, Romero A, Ribot F, Galbany J, Gibert L, Pérez-Pérez A. Buccal dental-microwear and feeding ecology of Early Pleistocene Theropithecus oswaldi from Cueva Victoria (Spain). J Hum Evol 2020; 142:102736. [PMID: 32193025 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Revised: 11/11/2019] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Despite the scarcity of fossil specimens of Theropithecus oswaldi in Eurasia, its presence out of Africa attests to the great dispersal of this Papionini genus during the Early Pleistocene. In the present study, we analyze the buccal dental microwear of T. oswaldi (T. o. leakeyi) fossil specimens from Cueva Victoria (Southeastern Spain). This analysis is the first characterization of the feeding ecology of T. oswaldi in Europe. The buccal microwear pattern of the molar and premolar teeth of T. oswaldi from Cueva Victoria shows great similarities to that observed for the extant frugivorous forest-dwelling Mandrillus sphinx and mangabeys (Cercocebus sp.)-both species adapted to durophagous dietary habits-while significantly different from that observed for the gramnivorous Theropithecus gelada. These results suggest that T. oswaldi from Cueva Victoria could have exploited both hard-shelled fruits or seeds and succulent fruits from open and forested Mediterranean ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- L M Martínez
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia Biològica, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08014, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - F Estebaranz-Sánchez
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia Biològica, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08014, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Unitat d'Antropologia Biològica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Bellaterra - Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - C Ferràndez-Cañadell
- Departament Dinàmica de la Terra i de l'Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - A Romero
- Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, 99, 03080, Alicante, Spain
| | - F Ribot
- Museo Municipal de Prehistoria y Paleontología, Calle Las Tiendas s/n, 18858, Orce, Granada, Spain
| | - J Galbany
- Departament de Psicologia Clínica i Psicobiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Psicologia, Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035, Barcelona, Spain; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
| | - L Gibert
- Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - A Pérez-Pérez
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia Biològica, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08014, Barcelona, Spain
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DeMiguel D, Rook L. Understanding climate's influence on the extinction of Oreopithecus (late Miocene, Tusco-Sardinian paleobioprovince, Italy). J Hum Evol 2018; 116:14-26. [PMID: 29477179 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/24/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Despite its long history of scientific study, the causes underlying the extinction of the insular hominoid Oreopithecus bambolii are still a matter of ongoing debate. While some authors consider intense tectonism and invading species the cause of its extinction ca. 6.7 Ma, others propose climatic change as the main contributing factor. We rely on long-term patterns of tooth wear and hypsodonty of the Baccinello and Fiume Santo herbivore-faunas to reconstruct changes in habitat prior to, during and after the extinction. While a mosaic of habitats was represented in Baccinello V1 (as shown by a record of browsers, mixed feeders and species engaged in grazing), more closed forests (higher proportion of browsers, shortage of mixed feeders and lack of grazers) characterised Baccinello V2. Finally, there was a partial loss of canopy cover and development of open-patches and low-abrasive grasses in Baccinello V3 (as denoted by new records of taxa involved in grazing)-although still dominated by a forested habitat (since browse was a component in all diets). Our results provide evidence for two perceptible shifts in climate, one between 8.1 and 7.1 Ma and other ca. 6.7 Ma, though this latter was not drastic enough to lead to intensive forest loss, substantially alter the local vegetation or affect Oreopithecus lifestyle-especially if considering the growing evidence of its versatile diet. Although the disappearance of Oreopithecus is complex, our data reject the hypothesis of environmental change as the main factor in the extinction of Oreopithecus and Maremma fauna. When our results are analysed together with other evidence, faunal interaction and predation by invading species from mainland Europe seems to be the most parsimonious explanation for this extinction event. This contrasts with European hominoid extinctions that were associated with major climatic shifts that led to environmental uniformity and restriction of the preferred habitats of Miocene apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel DeMiguel
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de Les Columnes S/n, 08193, Cerdanyola Del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Ciencias de La Tierra, Área de Paleontología, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain; Fundación ARAID, Zaragoza, Spain.
| | - Lorenzo Rook
- Dipartimento di Scienze Della Terra, Università Degli Studi di Firenze, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
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Aliaga-Martínez A, Romero A, Galbany J, Hernández-Aguilar RA, Pérez-Pérez A. Buccal dental microwear texture and catarrhine diets. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 163:462-473. [PMID: 28369731 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Revised: 03/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Two-dimensional dental microwear analyses on occlusal and nonocclusal enamel surfaces have been widely applied to reconstruct the feeding behaviors of extant primates and to infer ecological adaptations in fossil hominins. To date, analyses of dental microwear texture, using three-dimensional, Scale-Sensitive Fractal Analysis approaches has only been applied to occlusal surfaces. Here, for the first time, we apply this 3D proxy to buccal enamel surfaces of catarrhine primates of known feeding ecologies to assess the utility of nonocclusal microwear texture variables as indicators of dietary habits. MATERIALS AND METHODS Buccal microwear texture attributes were collected from high-resolution second molar casts in a sample of seven extant African catarrhine taxa with differing dietary behaviors. A white-light confocal microscope with a 100× objective lens was used to record six microwear texture variables that assess complexity, anisotropy, heterogeneity, and textural fill volume. RESULTS The physical properties and variation in hardness of ingested foods is reflected by significant differences in the microwear variables on buccal enamel surfaces between species, which is in agreement with early reports using 2D microwear signatures of the same samples. Species that consume hard brittle items showed high buccal enamel complexity and low anisotropy values, while folivorous species that consume tough foods revealed high anisotropy and low complexity enamel patterns. DISCUSSION Buccal microwear texture analysis on enamel surfaces clearly reflects diet-related variation in nonhuman primates. Our findings indicate that microwear texture attributes on nonworking enamel surfaces provide an alternative procedure for reconstructing dietary behavior when wear facets on occlusal surfaces are lacking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Aliaga-Martínez
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia Biològica, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
| | - Alejandro Romero
- Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, AC 99, Alicante, 03080, Spain
| | - Jordi Galbany
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, 800 22nd Street NW Ste 6000, Washington DC, 20052
| | - R Adriana Hernández-Aguilar
- Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, PO Box 1066 Blindern NO-0316, Oslo, Norway.,Ugalla Primate Project, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Pérez
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia Biològica, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
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Martínez LM, Estebaranz-Sánchez F, Galbany J, Pérez-Pérez A. Testing Dietary Hypotheses of East African Hominines Using Buccal Dental Microwear Data. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0165447. [PMID: 27851745 PMCID: PMC5112956 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 10/12/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
There is much debate on the dietary adaptations of the robust hominin lineages during the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition. It has been argued that the shift from C3 to C4 ecosystems in Africa was the main factor responsible for the robust dental and facial anatomical adaptations of Paranthropus taxa, which might be indicative of the consumption of fibrous, abrasive plant foods in open environments. However, occlusal dental microwear data fail to provide evidence of such dietary adaptations and are not consistent with isotopic evidence that supports greater C4 food intake for the robust clades than for the gracile australopithecines. We provide evidence from buccal dental microwear data that supports softer dietary habits than expected for P. aethiopicus and P. boisei based both on masticatory apomorphies and isotopic analyses. On one hand, striation densities on the buccal enamel surfaces of paranthropines teeth are low, resembling those of H. habilis and clearly differing from those observed on H. ergaster, which display higher scratch densities indicative of the consumption of a wide assortment of highly abrasive foodstuffs. Buccal dental microwear patterns are consistent with those previously described for occlusal enamel surfaces, suggesting that Paranthropus consumed much softer diets than previously presumed and thus calling into question a strict interpretation of isotopic evidence. On the other hand, the significantly high buccal scratch densities observed in the H. ergaster specimens are not consistent with a highly specialized, mostly carnivorous diet; instead, they support the consumption of a wide range of highly abrasive food items.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Mónica Martínez
- Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia, Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ferran Estebaranz-Sánchez
- Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia, Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Galbany
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Pérez
- Secció de Zoologia i Antropologia, Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Phylogenetic signal in molar dental shape of extant and fossil catarrhine primates. J Hum Evol 2016; 94:13-27. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2013] [Revised: 09/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Nelson SV, Rook L. Isotopic reconstructions of habitat change surrounding the extinction of Oreopithecus, the last European ape. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 160:254-71. [PMID: 26932906 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2015] [Revised: 01/31/2016] [Accepted: 02/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Oreopithecus bambolii was the last hominoid to survive in Europe. The purpose of this investigation was to reconstruct, through stable isotope analyses, Oreopithecus' habitat, subsistence behavior, and changes in habitat that may have led to its extinction. METHODS Carbon and oxygen stable isotopes from inorganic carbonate in tooth enamel from Oreopithecus and its contemporaneous faunas from localities in Tuscany and Sardinia were sampled. Also the fauna from localities in Tuscany shortly after Oreopithecus went extinct were sampled. RESULTS Results indicated that Oreopithecus, compared with most modern hominoids, inhabited forests that probably had a more open canopy. At Tuscan localities, Oreopithecus yields some of the highest carbon isotope values but some of the lowest oxygen, suggesting a diet that may have included tubers or aquatic vegetation. Relatively higher oxygen values in Sardinia suggested that its diet included arboreal foods as well. Among modern and fossil hominoids, Oreopithecus only resembled chimpanzees living outside of rainforests. It also resembled Ardipithecus in carbon isotope values, suggesting possible similarities in feeding strategies concordant with shared skeletal features between Oreopithecus and early hominins. Isotope values from post-Oreopithecus faunas indicated a shift to more forested conditions, unlike other hominoid extinctions associated with loss of forest. CONCLUSIONS Isotopic reconstructions of Oreopithecus' habitat and changes associated with its extinction indicated that its paleoecology was unique among hominoids. However, these reconstructions also suggested that like other hominoids, Oreopithecus was susceptible to changes in seasonality of precipitation, and it may have used wetlands as a buffer to seasonal regimes. Am J Phys Anthropol 160:254-271, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherry V Nelson
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, MSC01-1040, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001
| | - Lorenzo Rook
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Terra, Università Di Firenze, via G. La Pira, 4, Firenze, 50121, Italy
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DeMiguel D, Alba DM, Moyà-Solà S. Dietary specialization during the evolution of Western Eurasian hominoids and the extinction of European Great Apes. PLoS One 2014; 9:e97442. [PMID: 24848272 PMCID: PMC4029579 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2014] [Accepted: 04/14/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Given the central adaptive role of diet, paleodietary inference is essential for understanding the relationship between evolutionary and paleoenvironmental change. Here we rely on dental microwear analysis to investigate the role of dietary specialization in the diversification and extinction of Miocene hominoids from Western Eurasian between 14 and 7 Ma. New microwear results for five extinct taxa are analyzed together with previous data for other Western Eurasian genera. Except Pierolapithecus (that resembles hard-object feeders) and Oreopithecus (a soft-frugivore probably foraging opportunistically on other foods), most of the extinct taxa lack clear extant dietary analogues. They display some degee of sclerocarpy, which is most clearly expressed in Griphopithecus and Ouranopithecus (adapted to more open and arid environments), whereas Anoiapithecus, Dryopithecus and, especially, Hispanopithecus species apparently relied more strongly on soft-frugivory. Thus, contrasting with the prevailing sclerocarpic condition at the beginning of the Eurasian hominoid radiation, soft- and mixed-frugivory coexisted with hard-object feeding in the Late Miocene. Therefore, despite a climatic trend towards cooling and increased seasonality, a progressive dietary diversification would have occurred (probably due to competitive exclusion and increased environmental heterogeneity), although strict folivory did not evolve. Overall, our analyses support the view that the same dietary specializations that enabled Western Eurasian hominoids to face progressive climatic deterioration were the main factor ultimately leading to their extinction when more drastic paleoenvironmental changes took place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel DeMiguel
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - David M. Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Salvador Moyà-Solà
- ICREA at Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont and Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica (Dept. BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Galbany J, Dotras L, Alberts SC, Pérez-Pérez A. Tooth size variation related to age in Amboseli baboons. Folia Primatol (Basel) 2011; 81:348-59. [PMID: 21325862 PMCID: PMC3064934 DOI: 10.1159/000323588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2010] [Accepted: 12/06/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
We measured the molar size from a single population of wild baboons from Amboseli (Kenya), both females (n=57) and males (n=50). All the females were of known age; the males represented a mix of known-age individuals (n=31) and individuals with ages estimated to within 2 years (n=19). The results showed a significant reduction in the mesiodistal length of teeth in both sexes as a function of age. Overall patterns of age-related change in tooth size did not change whether we included or excluded the individuals of estimated age, but patterns of statistical significance changed as a result of changed sample sizes. Our results demonstrate that tooth length is directly related to age due to interproximal wearing caused by M2 and M3 compression loads. Dental studies in primates, including both fossil and extant species, are mostly based on specimens obtained from osteological collections of varying origins, for which the age at death of each individual in the sample is not known. Researchers should take into account the phenomenon of interproximal attrition leading to reduced tooth size when measuring tooth length for ondontometric purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Galbany
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
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Alba DM, Fortuny J, Moyà-Solà S. Enamel thickness in the Middle Miocene great apes Anoiapithecus, Pierolapithecus and Dryopithecus. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 277:2237-45. [PMID: 20335211 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
On the basis of industrial computed tomography, relative enamel thickness (RET) is computed in three Middle Miocene (ca 11.9-11.8 Ma) hominoids from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain): Pierolapithecus catalaunicus from BCV1 and Anoiapithecus brevirostris from C3-Aj, interpreted as stem hominids; and Dryopithecus fontani from C3-Ae of uncertain phylogenetic affinities. Pierolapithecus displays an average RET value of 19.5, Anoiapithecus of 18.6 and Dryopithecus of 10.6. The thick-enamelled condition of Pierolapithecus and Anoiapithecus is also characteristic of afropithecids, including the more derived kenyapithecins from the early Middle Miocene of Eurasia (Griphopithecus and Kenyapithecus). Given the presence of other dentognathic and craniofacial similarities, thick enamel may be interpreted as a symplesiomorphy of the Hominidae (the great ape and human clade), which would have been later independently modified along several lineages. Given the correlation between thick enamel and hard-object feeding, our results suggest that thick enamel might have been the fundamental adaptation that enabled the out-of-Africa dispersal of great-ape ancestors and their subsequent initial radiation throughout Eurasia. The much thinner enamel of Dryopithecus is difficult to interpret given phylogenetic uncertainties, being either a hominine synapomorphy or a convergently developed feature.
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Affiliation(s)
- D M Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de la UAB s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
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Buccal dental microwear variability in extant African Hominoidea: taxonomy versus ecology. Primates 2009; 50:221-30. [DOI: 10.1007/s10329-009-0139-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2008] [Accepted: 02/23/2009] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Vogel ER, van Woerden JT, Lucas PW, Utami Atmoko SS, van Schaik CP, Dominy NJ. Functional ecology and evolution of hominoid molar enamel thickness: Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii and Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:60-74. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2007] [Revised: 11/19/2007] [Accepted: 12/17/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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