Dryopithecus likely predominantly ate fruit (frugivory), and evidence of cavities on the teeth of the Austrian Dryopithecus indicates a high-sugar diet, likely deriving from ripe fruits and honey.
Dental wearing indicates Dryopithecus ate both soft and hard food, which could either indicate they consumed a wide array of different foods, or they ate harder foods as a fallback.
Nonetheless, its unspecialized teeth indicate it had a flexible diet, and large body size would have permitted a large gut to aid in the processing of less-digestible food, perhaps stretching to include foods such as leaves (folivory) in times of famine like in modern apes.
Unlike modern apes, Dryopithecus likely had a high carbohydrate, low fibre diet.

A high-fructose diet is associated with elevated levels of uric acid, which is neutralized by uricase in most animals except great apes.
It is thought they stopped producing it by 15 mya, resulting in increased blood pressure, which in turn led to increased activity, and a greater ability to build up fat reserves.
The palaeoenvironment of late Miocene Austria indicates an abundance of fruiting trees and honey for nine or ten months out of the year, and Dryopithecus may have relied on these fat reserves during the late winter.
High uric acid levels in the blood are also associated with increased intelligence.

Dryopithecus males had larger canines than females, which is associated with high levels of aggression in modern primates.
Dryopithecus likely predominantly ate fruit (frugivory), and evidence of cavities on the teeth of the Austrian Dryopithecus indicates a high-sugar diet, likely deriving from ripe fruits and honey. Dental wearing indicates Dryopithecus ate both soft and hard food, which could either indicate they consumed a wide array of different foods, or they ate harder foods as a fallback. Nonetheless, its unspecialized teeth indicate it had a flexible diet, and large body size would have permitted a large gut to aid in the processing of less-digestible food, perhaps stretching to include foods such as leaves (folivory) in times of famine like in modern apes. Unlike modern apes, Dryopithecus likely had a high carbohydrate, low fibre diet.
A high-fructose diet is associated with elevated levels of uric acid, which is neutralized by uricase in most animals except great apes. It is thought they stopped producing it by 15 mya, resulting in increased blood pressure, which in turn led to increased activity, and a greater ability to build up fat reserves. The palaeoenvironment of late Miocene Austria indicates an abundance of fruiting trees and honey for nine or ten months out of the year, and Dryopithecus may have relied on these fat reserves during the late winter. High uric acid levels in the blood are also associated with increased intelligence.
Dryopithecus males had larger canines than females, which is associated with high levels of aggression in modern primates.
Dryopithecus