Retrieving chronological age from dental remains of early fossil homina to reconstruct human growth in the past

摘要

A chronology of dental development in Pan troglodytes is arguably the best available model which to compare and contrast reconstructed dental chronologies of the earliest fossil homin Establishing a time scale for growth is a requirement for being able to make further xompara observations about timing and rate during both dento-skeletal growth and brain growth.Theabsol ute timing of anterior tooth crown and root formation appears not to reflect the period of somate growth. In contrast, the molar dentition best reflects changes to the total growth period.Earlier initiation of molar mineralization, shorter crown formation times, less root length formed at gingival emergence into functional occlusion are cumulatively expressed as earlier ages at molar eruption.Things that are similar in modern humans and Pan, such as the total length of time taken to form individual teeth, raise expectations that these would also have been the same in fossil hominins. The best evidence there is from the youngest fossil hominin specimens suggests a close resemblance to the model for Pan but also hints that Gorilla may be a better developmental model for some. A mosaic of great ape-like features currently best describes the timing of early hominin dental development.