First molar eruption, weaning, and life history in living wild chimpanzees.

ABSTRACT: Understanding dental development in chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, is of fundamental importance for reconstructing the evolution of human development. Most early hominin species are believed to show rapid ape-like patterns of development, implying that a prolonged modern human childhood evolved quite recently. However, chimpanzee developmental standards are uncertain because they have never been based on living wild individuals. Furthermore, although it is well established that first molar tooth emergence (movement into the mouth) is correlated with the scheduling of growth and reproduction across primates broadly, its precise relation to solid food consumption, nursing behavior, or maternal life history is unknown. To address these concerns we conducted a photographic study of

SUBMITTER: Smith TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3581971 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature