Mesowear is a method, used in different branches and fields of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

. This method can apply to both

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

and

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

animals, according to the scope of the study. Mesowear is based on studying an animal's tooth wearing fingerprint. In brief, each animal has special feeding habits, which cause unique tooth wearing. Rough feeds cause serious tooth abrasion, while smooth one triggers moderate abrasion, so browsers have teeth with moderate abrasion and grazers have teeth with rough abrasion. Scoring systems can quantify tooth abrasion observations and ease comparisons between individuals.

Mesowear definition

The mesowear method or tooth wear scoring method is a quick and inexpensive process of determining the lifelong

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

of a taxon ( grazer or browser) and was first introduced in the year 2000. The mesowear technique can be extended to

and also

animals. Mesowear analyses require large sample populations (>20), which can be problematic for some localities, but the method yields an accurate depiction of an animal's average lifelong diet. Mesowear analysis is based on the physical properties of

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...

foods as reflected in the relative amounts of attritive and

abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

wear that they cause on the dental enamel of the occlusal surfaces. Mesowear was recorded by examining the buccal apices of

molar tooth The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone toot ...

cusps. Apices were characterized as sharp, rounded, or blunt, and the valleys between them either high or low. The method has been developed only for

selenodont Selenodont teeth are the type of molars and premolars commonly found in ruminant herbivores. They are characterized by low crowns, and crescent-shaped cusps when viewed from above (crown view). The term comes from the Ancient Greek roots (, ' ...

and trilophodont molars, but the principle is readily extendable to other crown types. In collecting the data the teeth are inspected at close range, a hand lens will be used. Mesowear analysis is insensitive to wear stage as long as the very early and very late stages are excluded. Mesowear

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

follows

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

protocols Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technology ...

. Specimens are digitally photographed in labial view so that cusp shape and occlusal

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

can be scored. this method helps zoologists and nutritionists to prepare proper kind of hay for captive

feral A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

herbivores A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

with unknown feed habits in zoos. In collecting the data the teeth are inspected at close range, using a hand lens. Gravity toward lower teeth causes more abrasion on lower teeth than upper teeth. This fact is base of mesowear method.

Shape definition

Sharp: A sharp cusp terminates to a point and has practically no rounded area between the mesial and distal phase I facets, Round: a rounded cusp has a distinctly rounded tip (apex) without planar facet wear but retains facets on the lower slopes. Blunt: blunt cusp lacks distinct facets altogether.Kaiser. T.M. 2003
Extending the tooth mesowear method to extinct and extant equids"
Image:MESOWEAR1.png, mesowear variate Image:Mesowearshape.png, mesowear shape

Terminology

The attrition: this kind of dental wearing is as a result of rubbing tooth to tooth and no external forces cause this enamel abrasion.usually browsers feed contains less food abrasive materials( such as

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...

because of feed selecting behavior in this animals so wearing type of browser ungulates will be this type in most cases. The abrasion: rubbing food to tooth triggers this kind of tooth wearing more visible for grazer animals than browsers.

References

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External links

Mesowear Equilibrium in Zoo Animals

Tooth wear as a tool of reconstructing diet in fossil ungulates

EMD - Equus Mesowear Datenbase

Biological techniques and tools Dental anatomy Ecology Evolutionary biology