Data from: Comparative dental microwear of ruminant and perissodactyl molars: implications for paleodietary analysis of rare and extinct ungulate clades

Dental microwear analyses of ungulates and other large herbivores rely on
correlations of diet and microwear among extant ungulates, primarily
ruminants. Microwear is considered a ‘taxon-free’ method of paleodietary
analysis. The properties of food are associated with causality of
microwear, but the possibility that heritable properties of the consumer
(tooth morphologies, masticatory dynamics, enamel mechanical properties,
digestive physiologies) may introduce bias is not considered. Using an
observer blind method of light microscopy, we examined the distribution of
microwear features on the molars of eight species of ruminants and
perissodactyls. Grazing and browsing ruminants had statistically different
numbers of scratches forming discrete data clusters. Perissodactyls differ
in the numbers of scratches and pits but without discrete browser and
grazer clusters. Microwear features were distributed homogeneously across
ruminant molars and strongly predictive of diet from the labial edge of
the molar to the lingual edge. Microwear was heterogeneously distributed
across perissodactyl molars with more pits on the labial edge and more
scratches on the lingual edge. In perissodactyls, microwear sampled from
the labial edge was strongly predictive of diet, while microwear sampled
from other areas were not. Discriminant function analyses of microwear
assigned individual molars to diets (browser and grazer) and clades
(ruminant and perissodactyl) with similar success (70–73%) indicating that
phylogeny and diet influence microwear equally. Rhino microwear was more
sensitive to clade membership while other perissodactyl microwear was more
sensitive to diet. Although it is not clear what heritable variables may
phylogenetically bias dental microwear, extant ruminants may not be
appropriate models for the microwear of other large herbivores.