The inter-relationship between dietary and environmental properties and tooth wear: comparisons of mesowear, molar wear rate, and hypsodonty index of extant Sika deer populations

In reference to the evolutionary trend of increasing cheek tooth height in herbivorous ungulates, the causes of dental abrasion have long been debated. Interspecific comparisons of extant ungulates have revealed that both phytoliths in grass and external abrasive matter may play important roles. Using analysis of extant sika deer living in various environments and showing continuous latitudinal variation in food habits from northern grazing to southern browsing, we quantitatively evaluated the influence of dietary and environmental properties on three dental variables: mesowear score (MS), molar wear rate, and M3 hypsodonty index. We used 547 skulls and 740 mandibles from 16 populations of sika deer to obtain the dental measurements. We found that only graminoid proportion in diet correlated with MS and the molar wear rate, implying that phytoliths in grass abrade dental tissues. In contrast, annual precipitation in habitat was not correlated with any of the dental variables. We also found a significant correlation between the molar wear rate (selective pressure for high-crowned molars) and the M3 hypsodonty index of extant sika deer, implying an evolutionary increment in molar height corresponding to the molar wear rate. Our intraspecific comparative analyses provide further support for use of mesowear analysis as a paleodiet estimation method; it not only reveals staple food types (graminoids or dicots) but also implies regional or seasonal variation in the diet of the species.