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Related Concept Videos

Tooth Anatomy01:21

Tooth Anatomy

The human tooth enables us to eat a variety of foods, speak clearly, and even aid in shaping our faces. Teeth are composed of various elements that work together. Here's a detailed look at the anatomy of a human tooth.
The Crown, Neck, and Root
The visible part of the tooth is referred to as the crown. It's covered by enamel, the hardest substance in the human body. The crown is uniquely shaped for each type of tooth, allowing for different functions such as cutting, tearing, or grinding food.
Teeth01:15

Teeth

The formation of teeth, also known as odontogenesis, is a complex process that begins in utero, around the sixth week of embryonic development. There are three stages to this process: the bud stage, the cap stage, and the bell stage.
In the bud stage, the tooth germ (an aggregation of cells) starts to form in the developing jawbone. During the cap stage, the tooth germ differentiates into enamel organ, dental papilla, and dental sac, which will later develop into the tooth's enamel, dentin and...

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Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis
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Enamel thickness in the Middle Miocene great apes Anoiapithecus, Pierolapithecus and Dryopithecus.

D M Alba1, J Fortuny, S Moyà-Solà

  • 1Institut Català de Paleontologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de la UAB s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain. david.alba@icp.cat

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|March 26, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Thick tooth enamel in early hominoids Pierolapithecus and Anoiapithecus suggests a key adaptation for hard-object feeding and the initial dispersal of great apes out of Africa. This trait may be an ancestral characteristic of the Hominidae family.

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Area of Science:

  • Paleoanthropology
  • Primate Evolution
  • Paleontology

Background:

  • The evolutionary history of early hominoids, particularly their adaptations and dispersal patterns, remains a key area of research.
  • Understanding dental morphology, such as relative enamel thickness (RET), provides insights into feeding behaviors and phylogenetic relationships.
  • Middle Miocene hominoids from the Abocador de Can Mata site offer crucial data for reconstructing early ape evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compute and compare the relative enamel thickness (RET) in three Middle Miocene hominoid species: Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, Anoiapithecus brevirostris, and Dryopithecus fontani.
  • To infer the phylogenetic significance of enamel thickness within the Hominidae family and its potential role in early hominoid dispersal.
  • To investigate the correlation between enamel thickness and feeding adaptations, specifically hard-object consumption.

Main Methods:

  • Industrial computed tomography was employed to accurately measure the relative enamel thickness (RET) of fossil hominoid dental remains.
  • RET values were calculated for Pierolapithecus catalaunicus (BCV1), Anoiapithecus brevirostris (C3-Aj), and Dryopithecus fontani (C3-Ae).
  • Comparative analysis was conducted with known afropithecid and Eurasian hominoid enamel thickness data.

Main Results:

  • Pierolapithecus catalaunicus exhibited an average RET of 19.5, while Anoiapithecus brevirostris showed an average RET of 18.6.
  • Dryopithecus fontani displayed a significantly thinner average RET of 10.6.
  • The thick enamel of Pierolapithecus and Anoiapithecus aligns with afropithecids and suggests this trait may be a symplesiomorphy within Hominidae.

Conclusions:

  • Thick enamel in Pierolapithecus and Anoiapithecus, potentially a primitive trait for Hominidae, suggests adaptation to hard-object feeding.
  • This adaptation may have facilitated the out-of-Africa dispersal of great ape ancestors and their subsequent radiation into Eurasia.
  • The thin enamel of Dryopithecus presents an interpretative challenge, possibly representing a hominine synapomorphy or convergent evolution.