Dental microwear analysis is a method to infer diet and behavior in extinct animals, especially in

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

specimens. Typically, the patterns of pits and scratches on the occlusal or buccal surface of the enamel are compared with patterns observed in

extant species Neontology is a part of biology that, in contrast to paleontology, deals with living (or, more generally, ''recent'') organisms. It is the study of extant taxa (singular: extant taxon): taxa (such as species, genera and families) with members sti ...

to infer ecological information. Hard foods in particular can lead to distinctive patterns (although see below). Microwear can also be used for inferring behavior, especially those related to the non-masticatory use of

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tea ...

as 'tools'. Other uses include investigating

weaning Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...

in past populations. Methods used to collect data initially involved a microscope and manually collecting information on individual microwear features, but software to automatically collect data have improved markedly in recent years.

Potential issues and on-going debates

* The role of

phytolith Phytoliths (from Greek, "plant stone") are rigid, microscopic structures made of silica, found in some plant tissues and persisting after the decay of the plant. These plants take up silica from the soil, whereupon it is deposited within different ...

s and environmental grit in creating microwear features is not well understood and recent research suggests such items may create a surprisingly large amount of the microwear features visible in fossil samples * A recent study suggests hard food, or are least some types, may not contribute significantly to microwear textures{{Cite journal, last1=van Casteren, first1=Adam, last2=Strait, first2=David S., last3=Swain, first3=Michael V., last4=Michael, first4=Shaji, last5=Thai, first5=Lidia A., last6=Philip, first6=Swapna M., last7=Saji, first7=Sreeja, last8=Al-Fadhalah, first8=Khaled, last9=Almusallam, first9=Abdulwahab S., last10=Shekeban, first10=Ali, last11=McGraw, first11=W. Scott, date=2020-01-17, title=Hard plant tissues do not contribute meaningfully to dental microwear: evolutionary implications, journal=Scientific Reports, language=en, volume=10, issue=1, pages=582, doi=10.1038/s41598-019-57403-w, pmid=31953510 , pmc=6969033 , issn=2045-2322, doi-access=free * Dental microwear is rapidly turned over during life and therefore may only give information about the last few days of an individuals life. In particular, this 'last supper' affect may create a severely biased sample

References

Paleontology