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Dental Evidence for Diet in Some Miocene Catarrhines with Comments on the Effects of Phylogeny on the Interpretation of Adaptation

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Function, Phylogeny, and Fossils

Part of the book series: Advances in Primatology ((AIPR))

Abstract

Studies of the dental anatomy of Miocene catarrhines have concentrated on either phylogenetic or adaptive interpretations. Most investigations of systematics or dental function have been considered more mutually exclusive than reciprocally illuminating. In this chapter, we attempt to develop a balanced view of the two together. Data presented here suggest that functional inferences require consideration of the phylogenetic affinities of the groups being compared. While the way a character functions is independent of its phylogenetic polarity, the way in which that character manifests itself may depend, in part, on phylogenetic considerations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, 27710, USA

    Richard F. Kay

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 72701, USA

    Peter S. Ungar

Authors
  1. Richard F. Kay
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  2. Peter S. Ungar
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, M5S 3G3, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    David R. Begun

  2. Anthropology and Pathology & Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, 65211, Columbia, Missouri, USA

    Carol V. Ward

  3. Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Injury Science, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 07103, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Michael D. Rose

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Kay, R.F., Ungar, P.S. (1997). Dental Evidence for Diet in Some Miocene Catarrhines with Comments on the Effects of Phylogeny on the Interpretation of Adaptation. In: Begun, D.R., Ward, C.V., Rose, M.D. (eds) Function, Phylogeny, and Fossils. Advances in Primatology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0075-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0075-3_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0077-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0075-3

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