Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
Mechanisms and causes of wear in tooth enamel: Implications for hominin diets
Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Volume 10, No. 80, Year 2013
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
The wear of teeth is a major factor limiting mammalian lifespans in the wild. One method of describing worn surfaces, dental microwear texture analysis, has proved powerful for reconstructing the diets of extinct vertebrates, but has yielded unexpected results in early hominins. In particular, although australopiths exhibit derived craniodental features interpreted as adaptations for eating hard foods, most do not exhibit microwear signals indicative of this diet. However, no experiments have yet demonstrated the fundamental mechanisms and causes of this wear. Here, we report nanowear experiments where individual dust particles, phytoliths and enamel chips were slid across a flat enamel surface. Microwear features produced were influenced strongly by interacting mechanical properties and particle geometry. Quartz dust was a rigid abrasive, capable of fracturing and removing enamel pieces. By contrast, phytoliths and enamel chips deformed during sliding, forming U-shaped grooves or flat troughs in enamel, without tissue loss. Other plant tissues seem too soft to mark enamel, acting as particle transporters. We conclude that dust has overwhelming importance as a wear agent and that dietary signals preserved in dental microwear are indirect. Nanowear studies should resolve controversies over adaptive trends in mammals like enamel thickening or hypsodonty that delay functional dental loss. © 2013 The Authors.
Authors & Co-Authors
Lucas, Peter William
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Kuwait University
Omar, Ridwaan
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Kuwait University
Al-Fadhalah, Khaled Jabr Hasan
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Kuwait University
Almusallam, Abdulwahab Salem
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Kuwait University
Henry, Amanda Georganna
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Michael, Shaji
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Kuwait University
Thai, Lidia Arockia
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Kuwait University
Watzke, Jörg
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Strait, David S.
United States, Albany
State University of new York Albany
Atkins, Anthony G.
United Kingdom, Reading
University of Reading
Statistics
Citations: 260
Authors: 10
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1098/rsif.2012.0923
ISSN:
17425689
e-ISSN:
17425662
Research Areas
Health System And Policy