Dental calculus evidence of Taï Forest Chimpanzee plant consumption and life history transitions

Dental calculus from Taï Forest chimpanzees reveals long-term dietary patterns and behavioral insights, including weaning age and learned food processing techniques like nut-cracking. The study, combining high-resolution microremain analysis with over two decades of field observations, demonstrates that phytolith abundance in calculus accurately reflects plant diet proportions, though starches do not follow this pattern. This approach bridges dietary records and behavioral data, offering a novel method to interpret primate ecology and life history transitions.

Power, R. C., Salazar-García, D. C., Wittig, R. M., Freiberg, M., & Henry, A. G. (2015). Dental calculus evidence of Taï Forest Chimpanzee plant consumption and life history transitions. Scientific Reports, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15161