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  3. Micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of long-extinct specimens of the primate

Micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of long-extinct specimens of the primate

游客2024-01-12  26
问题 Micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of long-extinct specimens of the primate species australopithecine may provide evidence about their diets. For example, on the basis of tooth micro-wear patterns, Walker dismisses Jolly’s hypothesis that australopithecines ate hard seeds. He also disputes Szalay’s suggestion that the heavy enamel of australopithecine teeth is an adaptation to bone crunching, since both seed cracking and bone crunching produce distinctive micro-wear characteristics on teeth. His conclusion that australopithecines were frugivores (fruit eaters) is based upon his observation that the tooth micro-wear characteristics of east African australopithecine specimens are indistinguishable from those of chimpanzees and orangutans, which are commonly assumed to be frugivorous primates.
However, research on the diets of contemporary primates suggests that micro-wear studies may have limited utility in determining the foods that are actually eaten. For example, insect eating, which can cause distinct micro-wear patterns, would not cause much tooth abrasion in modern baboons, who eat only soft-bodied insects rather than hard-bodied insects. In addition, the diets of current omnivorous primates vary considerably depending on the environments that different groups within a primate species inhabit; if australopithecines were omnivores too, we might expect to find considerable population variation in their tooth micro-wear patterns. Thus, Walker’s description of possible australopithecine diets may need to be expanded to include a much more diverse diet. [br] The passage suggests which of the following about the micro-wear patterns found on the teeth of omnivorous primates?
选项 A、The patterns provide information about what kinds of foods are not eaten by the particular species of primate, but not about the foods actually eaten.
B、The patterns of various primate species living in the same environment resemble one another.
C、The patterns may not provide information about the extent to which a particular species’ diet includes seeds.
D、The patterns provide more information about these primates’ diet than do the tooth micro-wear patterns of primates who are frugivores.
E、The patterns may differ among groups within a species depending on the environment within which a particular group lives.
答案 E
解析 Inference
This question focuses mainly on the end of the second paragraph, which states that the diets of current omnivorous primates vary considerably depending on the environments in which they live. It goes on to conclude that australopithecines, if they were omnivores, would similarly consume varied diets, depending on environment, and exhibit varied tooth micro-wear patterns as well. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that any omnivorous primates living in different environments and consuming different diets would exhibit varied micro-wear patterns.
A The passage indicates that the absence of certain types of micro-wear patterns can provide evidence about what foods a species does not eat. It also says that among omnivorous primates, one might expect to find considerable population variation in their tooth micro-wear patterns. Wherever micro-wear patterns are present, they provide evidence about what kinds of foods are eaten.
B The passage suggests that various primate species living in the same environment might consume a variety of different diets, so there is no reason to conclude that their micro-wear patterns would resemble one another.
C The passage indicates that seed-eating produces distinctive micro-wear patterns, so the patterns, or lack thereof, on the teeth of any species would most likely provide information about the extent to which the species’ diet includes seeds.
D The end of the first paragraph suggests that frugivores’ micro-wear patterns are distinctive; the passage provides no reason to believe that omnivores’ diets provide more information.
E Correct. According to the passage, omnivorous primates of a particular species may consume different diets depending on where they live. Thus, their micro-wear patterns may differ on this basis.
The correct answer is E.
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