Elsevier

Journal of Human Evolution

Volume 10, Issue 2, February 1981, Pages 165-173
Journal of Human Evolution

Interspecific scaling of maxillary canine size and shape in female primates: Relationships to social structure and diet

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Maxillary canine base area and height are evaluated relative to body weight and postcanine area for adult female primates from 32 species. In general, the canines are negatively allometric, becoming relatively smaller with increasing body size. Species with the relatively largest and smallest canines are compared according to diet, taxonomic group, territoriality, arboreality-terrestriality, and breeding system. Females from single-male, multi-female groups have a tendency for greater canine height than females from species with multi-male breeding units.

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