Search results for "Diet switch"

The turnover of dental microwear texture: Testing the" last supper" effect in small mammals in a controlled feeding experiment

2020

Dental microwear texture (DMT) analysis is commonly applied for dietary reconstruction of vertebrates. The temporal scale on which dietarily informative microscopic wear forms on enamel surfaces is crucial to infer dietary flexibility and seasonality. Microwear is assumed to form shortly before the individual's death, reflecting information pertaining to the last meals consumed (“last supper” effect). In primate feeding experiments, microwear features formed within hours, suggesting rates of turnover within one to two weeks. As DMT formation experiments testing the persistence of microwear three-dimensionally (textures) are still lacking, we test how quickly DMTs form and pr…