Data from: Controlled feeding experiments with diets of different abrasiveness reveal slow development of mesowear signal in goats (Capra aegagrus hircus)

Dental mesowear is applied as a proxy to determine the general diet of mammalian herbivores based on tooth-cusp shape and occlusal relief. Low, blunt cusps are considered typical for grazers and high, sharp cusps typical for browsers. However, how internal or external abrasives impact mesowear, and the time frame the wear signature takes to develop, still need to be explored. Four different pelleted diets of increasing abrasiveness (lucerne, grass, grass and rice husks, grass, rice husks and sand) were fed to four groups of a total of 28 adult goats in a controlled feeding experiment over a six-month period. Tooth morphology was captured by medical CT scans at the beginning and end of the experiment. These scans, as well as the crania obtained postmortem, were scored using the mesowear method. Comparisons between diet groups only showed few significant differences after six months, irrespective of whether CT scans or the real teeth were scored. Only when assessing the difference in signal between start and end did relevant, significant diet-specific effects emerge. Diets containing lower phytolith content caused a more pronounced change in mesowear towards sharper cusps/higher reliefs, while the feed containing sand did not result in more extreme changes in mesowear when compared to the same feed without sand. Our experiment suggests that the formation of a stable and hence reliable mesowear signal requires more time to develop than six months.牙齿磨耗分析法（dental mesowear）被用作基于牙尖形态与咬合面起伏（occlusal relief）推断哺乳动物植食动物整体食性的替代指标。低平钝圆的牙尖被认为是草食性动物（啃食草本植物）的典型特征，而高锐的牙尖则是食叶性动物（啃食灌木枝叶）的典型特征。然而，内源性与外源性磨料如何影响牙齿磨耗分析法，以及磨耗特征信号形成所需的时间框架，仍有待探索。 本研究通过为期6个月的控制性饲喂实验，将4种磨蚀性逐级递增的颗粒饲料（紫花苜蓿、禾草、禾草+稻壳、禾草+稻壳+砂粒）饲喂给4组共计28只成年山羊。实验开始与结束阶段，均通过医学CT扫描获取山羊的牙齿形态数据。研究人员采用牙齿磨耗分析法对上述CT扫描影像以及死后采集的颅骨样本进行评分。 仅在6个月后对各组饲料进行比较时，无论采用CT扫描影像还是实体牙齿进行评分，均仅观察到少量具有统计学意义的差异。唯有对比实验起始与结束阶段的特征信号差异时，才显现出与饲料类型相关的显著效应。植硅体（phytolith）含量较低的饲料会使牙齿磨耗特征更显著地向高锐牙尖/高咬合面起伏的方向变化；而相较于未添加砂粒的同类型饲料，添加砂粒的饲料并未导致牙齿磨耗特征出现更极端的变化。本实验表明，要形成稳定且可靠的牙齿磨耗特征信号，所需的时间要长于6个月。