A new perspective on fluctuating odontometric asymmetry in South African Negroes

The present communication introduces a novel statistical method by means of which fluctuating odontometric asymmetry may be broken up into two components: shape and size. This method is then applied to the odontometric data of 106 urban South African Negroes in order to test the postulate that there might be a difference between the levels of shape and size asymmetry. The data show that both components are present. Additionally, it is shown that there are no arcadal differences in the magnitudes of size or shape asymmetry. However, size asymmetry predominates in the anterior dental segment of the maxilla while shape asymmetry predominates in the posterior segment. In contrast, shape is the dominant component of asymmetry in the anterior mandibular teeth while size asymmetry predominates in the postcanine teeth. The present analysis does not show shape to be a superior measure of environmental stress compared to size asymmetry.