ABSTRACT
Miocene Ramapithecinae have long figured prominently as a group which may be in the direct line of human ancestry. This chapter suggests that ramapithecine feeding adaptations were not necessarily evolved in a terrestrial setting. "Nut-cracking" epitomizes coevolving adaptive strategy. Because a similar adaptive strategy is followed today by arboreal and terrestrial species, a determination of ramapithecine terrestriality awaits better post-cranial evidence. Szalay has proposed a meat-eating, scavenging theory to explain the origins of ramapithecine facial and dental adaptations. Another feature of ramapithecine anatomy which might yield useful evidence about their dietary adaptations is the degree of development of the shearing crests on the molars in relation to molar length or enamel thickness. An adaptation for nut or hard fruit-eating would explain why thick enamel appears to have evolved in ramapithecines in combination with reduced molar crown relief, a forward shifting of the masseter muscle and a transverse thickening of the mandibular corpora.
