Dental linear metrics from a wild population of baboons (Papiocynocephalus), Kenya

Abstract

This dataset contains 82 standard linear dimensions of maxillary and mandibular teeth from 126 individuals from a wild population of yellow baboons (Papio hamadrays cynocephalus, or Papio cynocephalus, depending on your taxonomic practice for baboons) from Kenya. The measurements were taken from a skeletonized population of baboons culled because they were ``pests'' to a sisal plantation. The Director of the Department of Osteology at the Kenyan National Museums collected the carcasses and prepared them as skeletons. The specimens are located in Nairobi, housed in the Kenyan National Museums. See our 2007 paper for more details. The research question driving this data collection was to test whether or not the latent structure of dental phenotypic variation within a wild population of baboons is similar to the dental phenotypic variation in a captive, pedigreed population of baboons. We had conducted quantitative genetic analyses of dental variation in the captive colony used for quantitative genetics research but had repeatedly been asked whether or not the genetic architecture influencing the captive colony's dental variation was similar to that of their wild counterparts. These data enabled us to test this hypothesis, and in so doing, support the hypothesis that the pattern of phenotypic dental variation is essentially the same. The second molars from this dataset were used in analyses reported in this publication: Hlusko, L.J. and Mahaney, M.C., 2007. A multivariate comparison of dental variation in wild and captive populations of baboons (Papio hamadryas). Archives of oral biology, 52(2), pp.195-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2006.09.008 We share here the wild population data, as they can be useful to anyone interested in dental phenotypic variation and covariation in wild baboons. The individuals in this population are KNOWN TO BE RELATED to each other. Therefore, the range of variation is not representative of a sample of unrelated individuals from this species. The similarity between phenotypic and genotypic correlations was proposed by James Cheverud, and has been tested as ``Cheverud's Conjecture'' in evolutionary biology: Cheverud, J.M. 1988. A comparison of genetic and phenotypic correlations. Evolution 42: 958-968. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1988.tb02514.x Roff, D.A. 1995. The estimation of genetic correlations from phenotypic correlations: a test of Cheverud's conjecture. Heredity 74:481-490. doi: 10.1038/hdy.1995.68 Sodini S.M., Kemper K.E., Wray N.R., Trzaskowski M. 2018. Comparison of genotypic and phenotypic correlations: Cheverud's conjecture in humans. Genetics 209(3):941-948. doi:10.1534/genetics.117.300630