title: Untangling the environmental from the dietary: dust does not matter.
abstract: Both dust and silica phytoliths have been shown to contribute to reducing tooth volume during chewing. However, the way and the extent to which they individually contribute to tooth wear in natural conditions is unknown. There is still debate as to whether dental microwear represents a dietary or an environmental signal, with far-reaching implications on evolutionary mechanisms that promote dental phenotypes, such as molar hypsodonty in ruminants, molar lengthening in suids or enamel thickening in human ancestors. By combining controlled-food trials simulating natural conditions and dental microwear textural analysis on sheep, we show that the presence of dust on food items does not overwhelm the dietary signal. Our dataset explores variations in dental microwear textures between ewes fed on dust-free and dust-laden grass or browse fodders. Browsing diets with a dust supplement simulating Harmattan windswept environments contain more silica than dust-free grazing diets. Yet browsers given a dust supplement differ from dust-free grazers. Regardless of the presence or the absence of dust, sheep with different diets yield significantly different dental microwear textures. Dust appears a less significant determinant of dental microwear signatures than the intrinsic properties of ingested foods, implying that diet plays a critical role in driving the natural selection of dental innovations.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Paléoprimatologie et Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements UMR 7262, CNRS and Université de Poitiers, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France gildas.merceron@univ-poitiers.fr.
authors.forename: Gildas
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5777-7126
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Merceron
authors.affiliation: Institut de Paléoprimatologie et Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements UMR 7262, CNRS and Université de Poitiers, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Anusha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramdarshan
authors.affiliation: Institut de Paléoprimatologie et Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements UMR 7262, CNRS and Université de Poitiers, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blondel
authors.affiliation: Institut de Paléoprimatologie et Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements UMR 7262, CNRS and Université de Poitiers, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France Centre Français des Études Éthiopiennes USR 3137, CNRS and Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Ambassade de France en Ethiopie, PO Box 5554, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Jean-Renaud
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Boisserie
authors.affiliation: Institut Pprime UPR 3346, CNRS, ENSMA and Université de Poitiers, 86962 Futuroscope Chasseneuil Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Noël
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brunetiere
authors.affiliation: Institut Pprime UPR 3346, CNRS, ENSMA and Université de Poitiers, 86962 Futuroscope Chasseneuil Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Francisco
authors.affiliation: Ferme Expérimentale du Mourier, Institut de l'Elevage, 87800 St Priest Ligoure, France Centre Interrégional d'Information et de Recherche en Production Ovine, Ferme Expérimentale du Mourier, 87800 St Priest Ligoure, France.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gautier
authors.affiliation: Institut Pprime UPR 3346, CNRS, ENSMA and Université de Poitiers, 86962 Futuroscope Chasseneuil Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Milhet
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Novello
authors.affiliation: IC2MP UMR 7285, CNRS and Université de Poitiers, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Dimitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pret
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D004391:Dust; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D008963:Molar; D012756:Sheep; D013552:Swine; D057085:Tooth Wear
chemical_list: D004391:Dust
keywords: controlled-food trials; dental microwear texture analysis; diet; dust; grit; tooth wear