The earliest toothless hominin skull

Lordkipanidze, David; Vekua, Abesalom; Ferring, Reid; Rightmire, G. Philip; Agustı́, Jordi; Kiladze, Gocha; Mouskhelishvili, Alexander; Nioradzé, Médéa; León, Marcia S. Ponce de; Tappen, Martha; Zollikofer, Christoph P. E.

doi:10.1038/434717b

Cited by 182 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…7). These dates overlay well upon the fossil and archaeological record, with the first expansion corresponding to the original expansion of Homo erectus out of Africa into Eurasia (Aguirre and Carbonell, 2001;BarYosef and Belfer-Cohen, 2001;Antón et al, 2002;Vekua et al, 2002) and the development of a culture capable of keeping impaired individuals alive for many years (Lordkipanidze et al, 2005). The second expansion corresponds to the spread of Acheulean culture into much of Eurasia after an earlier African origin (Asfaw et al, 1992;Hou et al, 2000) and the initiation of a substantial increase in cranial capacity (Ruff et al, 1997;Relethford, 2001b;Rightmire, 2004).…”

Section: Multilocus Nested-clade Analysissupporting

confidence: 59%

Haplotype Trees and Modern Human Origins

Templeton

2005

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

183

131

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Section: Multilocus Nested-clade Analysissupporting

confidence: 59%

Haplotype Trees and Modern Human Origins

Templeton

2005

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

183

131

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“…Mandible D3900, which is associated with the edentulous cranium D3444 (28), represents an elderly individual. Its alveolar process is almost completely atrophied, indicating massive tooth loss several years antemortem (28,45). The only tooth still in place premortem (but lost postmortem) was the left canine (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tooth wear and dentoalveolar remodeling are key factors of morphological variation in the Dmanisi mandibles

Margvelashvili

Zollikofer

Lordkipanidze

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The Plio-Pleistocene hominin sample from Dmanisi (Georgia), dated to 1.77 million years ago, is unique in offering detailed insights into patterns of morphological variation within a paleodeme of early Homo. Cranial and dentoalveolar morphologies exhibit a high degree of diversity, but the causes of variation are still relatively unexplored. Here we show that wear-related dentoalveolar remodeling is one of the principal mechanisms causing mandibular shape variation in fossil Homo and in modern human huntergatherer populations. We identify a consistent pattern of mandibular morphological alteration, suggesting that dental wear and compensatory remodeling mechanisms remained fairly constant throughout the evolution of the genus Homo. With increasing occlusal and interproximal tooth wear, the teeth continue to erupt, the posterior dentition tends to drift in a mesial direction, and the front teeth become more upright. The resulting changes in dentognathic size and shape are substantial and need to be taken into account in comparative taxonomic analyses of isolated hominin mandibles. Our data further show that excessive tooth wear eventually leads to a breakdown of the normal remodeling mechanisms, resulting in dentognathic pathologies, tooth loss, and loss of masticatory function. Complete breakdown of dentognathic homeostasis, however, is unlikely to have limited the life span of early Homo because this effect was likely mediated by the preparation of soft foods.aging | compensatory mechanisms | toothpick | local periodontitis | early Pleistocene Homo A lthough patterns of dental micro-and macrowear and wearrelated pathologies are amply documented in the hominin fossil record (1-5), processes of in vivo dentoalveolar remodeling (3, 6, 7) and their potential influence on dentognathic morphology are only beginning to be studied in fossil hominins (8). In modern human hunter-gatherer populations, remodeling of dentoalveolar hard tissue is triggered mainly by dental wear, aging, pathologies, and trauma. Wear-related remodeling can be understood as a mechanism of in vivo modification that maintains masticatory function (3,7,(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Three main processes are typically identified (Fig. 1): i) Wear-induced reduction of dental crown height leads to alterations in masticatory biomechanics. This triggers alveolar bone remodeling, yielding dislocation of dental structures and eventual continuous eruption of all teeth. As an effect, occlusal contact between upper and lower teeth is maintained (15-17), and the position and orientation of the occlusal plane relative to the temporomandibular joints (TMJs) is held approximately constant, thus preventing the "wear-out" (18) of the TMJs. ii) The reduction of mesiodistal crown dimensions through interproximal dental wear triggers alveolar bone remodeling in the mesiodistal direction. This leads to mesial drift of the postcanine dentition and shortening of the dental arcade (19).iii) In the anterior dentition, remodeling induced by interproximal wear results in increas...

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“…A trend of increasing older adult survivorship has been reported over the course of human evolutionary history based on the dental remains (43). Nevertheless, potential signs of senescence are occasionally preserved in cranial skeletal remains before the emergence of Neandertals (e.g., D3444/D3900) (44). Based on postcranial skeletal evidence, the SH Pelvis 1 individual represents the oldest evidence in the fossil record of an aged human.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle Pleistocene lower back and pelvis from an aged human individual from the Sima de los Huesos site, Spain

Bonmatí

Gómez‐Olivencia

Arsuaga

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

147

101

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We report a nearly complete lumbar spine from the Middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) that is assigned to the previously published SH male Pelvis 1 [Arsuaga JL, et al. (1999). Nature 399: 255-258]. The "SH Pelvis 1 individual" is a unique nearly complete lumbo-pelvic complex from the human Middle Pleistocene fossil record, and offers a rare glimpse into the anatomy and past lifeways of Homo heidelbergensis. A revised reconstruction of Pelvis 1, together with the current fossil evidence, confirms our previous hypothesis that the morphology of this pelvis represents the primitive pattern within the genus Homo. Here we argue that this primitive pattern is also characterized by sexual dimorphism in the pelvic canal shape, implying complicated deliveries. In addition, this individual shows signs of lumbar kyphotic deformity, spondylolisthesis, and Baastrup disease. This suite of lesions would have postural consequences and was most likely painful. As a result, the individual's daily physical activities would have been restricted to some extent. Reexamination of the age-at-death agrees with this individual being over 45 y old, relying on the modern human pattern of changes of the articular surfaces of the os coxae. The presence of degenerative pathological lesions and the advanced age-at-death of this individual make it the most ancient postcranial evidence of an aged individual in the human fossil record. Additional nonpathological SH lumbopelvic remains are consistent with previous hypotheses, suggesting a less-pronounced sagittal spinal curvature in Neandertals compared with Homo sapiens. human evolution | Sierra de Atapuerca | spino-pelvic morphology | paleopathology P resent knowledge of the evolution of the pelvic region and es-

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The earliest toothless hominin skull

Cited by 182 publications

References 9 publications

Haplotype Trees and Modern Human Origins

Haplotype Trees and Modern Human Origins

Tooth wear and dentoalveolar remodeling are key factors of morphological variation in the Dmanisi mandibles

Middle Pleistocene lower back and pelvis from an aged human individual from the Sima de los Huesos site, Spain

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