Using a Dental Ecology Approach to Assess Dental Health in a Wild Population of Ring-tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta) at the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve and Tsimanampesotse National Park Madagascar.

Given the large body of data on wild primate feeding ecology, there is surprisingly little general dental health and dental pathology data available for non-human primates. Using a "Dental Ecology" approach (Cuozzo and Sauther, 2012), defined as the synthetic study of how teeth respond to the environment, we present patterns of dental pathology within the context of feeding behavior, habitat variation and anthropogenic effects. Data are presented for two wild primate populations in Madagascar: the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve (BMSR) (2004 - 2010), which is a mosaic habitat with both intact gallery forest and anthropogenically altered areas that include human croplands and, degraded forest, and Tsimanompesotse National Park (TNP) (2006) which contains intact spiny thicket. Wild BMSR lemurs demonstrate a variety of dental pathologies that include a high incidence of toothcomb plaque, heavy canine calculus with gingivitis and, more rarely, cavities. BMSR in 2005 experienced a cyclone that toppled trees and reduced food resources.. Dental pathologies peaked during that year and were higher than other years ((X2 (DF = 84, N= 127) = 118.37, p < .008). In addition, females had a higher percentage of pathologies that year compared to males ((X2 (DF = 1, N = 72) = 4.68, p < .03). Behavioral ecology also affected patterns of pathology, with crop-raiding troops exhibiting higher percentages of pathologies ((X2 (DF = 1, N= 370) = 12.10, p < .0007). Comparing TNP and BMSR, 2006 indicates that different habitats emphasize different pathologies, with caries, molar staining and heavy canine calculus characterizing TNP lemurs, and toothcomb plaque, heavy canine calculus plus gingivitis more prevalent at BMSR. Comparing our results with sub-fossil lemur specimens indicates similar pathologies, and demonstrates the power of the dental ecology approach in providing context for understanding living and fossil pathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]