Rapid dental development in a Middle Paleolithic Belgian Neanderthal.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of life history (pace of growth and reproduction) was crucial to ancient hominin adaptations. The study of dental development facilitates assessment of growth and development in fossil hominins with greater precision than other skeletal analyses. During tooth formation, biological rhythms manifest in enamel and dentine, creating a permanent record of growth rate and duration. Quantification of these internal and external incremental features yields developmental benchmarks, including ages at crown completion, tooth eruption, and root completion. Molar eruption is correlated with other aspects of life history. Recent evidence for developmental differences between modern humans and Neanderthals remains ambiguous. By measuring tooth formation in the entire dentition of a juvenil

SUBMITTER: Smith TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2154412 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature