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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Three-dimensional molar enamel distribution and thickness in Australopithecus and Paranthropus
Biology Letters, Volume 4, No. 4, Year 2008
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Description
Thick molar enamel is among the few diagnostic characters of hominins which are measurable in fossil specimens. Despite a long history of study and characterization of Paranthropus molars as relatively 'hyper-thick', only a few tooth fragments and controlled planes of section (designed to be proxies of whole-crown thickness) have been measured. Here, we measure molar enamel thickness in Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus using accurate microtomographic methods, recording the whole-crown distribution of enamel. Both taxa have relatively thick enamel, but are thinner than previously characterized based on two-dimensional measurements. Three-dimensional measurements show that P. robustus enamel is not hyper-thick, and A. africanus enamel is relatively thinner than that of recent humans. Interspecific differences in the whole-crown distribution of enamel thickness influence cross-sectional measurements such that enamel thickness is exaggerated in two-dimensional sections of A. africanus and P. robustus molars. As such, two-dimensional enamel thickness measurements in australopiths are not reliable proxies for the three-dimensional data they are meant to represent. The three-dimensional distribution of enamel thickness shows different patterns among species, and is more useful for the interpretation of functional adaptations than single summary measures of enamel thickness. © 2008 The Royal Society.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2610159/bin/rsbl20080223s55.pdf
Authors & Co-Authors
Olejniczak, Anthony J.
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Smith, Tanya M.
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Skinner, Matthew M.
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Grine, Frederick Edward
United States, Stony Brook
Stony Brook University
United Kingdom, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
Feeney, Robin N.M.
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Thackeray, John Francis
South Africa, Pretoria
Transvaal Museum
Hublin, Jean Jacques
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Statistics
Citations: 93
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1098/rsbl.2008.0223
ISSN:
17449561
e-ISSN:
1744957X
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study