Investigating the dietary niches of fossil Plio-Pleistocene European macaques: The case of Macaca majori Azzaroli, 1946 from Sardinia
Plastiras, Christos Alexandros (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Thiery, Ghislain (Université de Poitiers)
Guy, Franck (Université de Poitiers)
Alba, David M.. (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Nishimura, Takeshi (Kyoto University)
Kostopoulos, Dimitris S. (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Merceron, Gildas (Université de Poitiers)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	The genus Macaca includes medium- to large-bodied monkeys and represents one of the most diverse primate genera, also having a very large geographic range. Nowadays, wild macaque populations are found in Asia and Africa, inhabiting a wide array of habitats. Fossil macaques were also present in Europe from the Late Miocene until the Late Pleistocene. Macaques are considered ecologically flexible monkeys that exhibit highly opportunistic dietary strategies, which may have been critical to their evolutionary success. Nevertheless, available ecological information regarding fossil European species is very sparse, limiting our knowledge of their evolutionary history in this geographic area. To further our understanding of fossil European macaque ecology, we investigated the dietary ecology of Macaca majori, an insular endemic species from Sardinia. In particular, we characterized the dental capabilities and potential dietary adaptations of M. majori through dental topographic and enamel thickness analyses of two M2s from the Early Pleistocene site of Capo Figari (1. 8 Ma). We also assessed its diet through dental microwear texture analysis, while the microwear texture of M. majori was also compared with microwear textures from other European fossil macaques from mainland Europe. The dental topographic and enamel thickness analyses suggest that M. majori frequently consumes hard/mechanically challenging and/or abrasive foods. The results of the dental microwear analysis are consistent with this interpretation and further suggest that M. majori probably exhibited more durophagous dietary habits than mainland Plio-Pleistocene macaques. Overall, our results indicate that M. majori probably occupied a different dietary niche compared to its mainland fossil relatives, which suggests that they may have inhabited different paleoenvironments.
Grants:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2020-117289GBI00
Note:	Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya ; European Social Fund
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Published in:	Journal of Human Evolution, Vol. 185 (December 2023) art. 103454, ISSN 1095-8606

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103454

Available from: 2024-12-31 Postprint

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles