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Abstract

Despite increasing interest in food texture and how it affects primate masticatory systems, little quantitative work has been done in this area. We discuss a method to quantify physical properties of primate food items. To demonstrate its utility, we performed fracture experiments on a sample of adult coleopterans (to approximate a “hard-object” insectivorous diet), larval lepidoterans (to approximate a “soft-object” insectivorous diet), and vertebrate muscle tissue (to represent a more carnivorous feeding regime).

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Strait, S.G., Vincent, J.F.V. Primate Faunivores: Physical Properties of Prey Items. International Journal of Primatology 19, 867–878 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020397430482

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