Anthropology: The earliest toothless hominin skull
Marcia S. Ponce de León Christoph P. E. Zollikofer David O. Lordkipanidze Abesalom Veku Reid Ferring G. Philip Rightmire Jordi Agusti Gocha Kiladze Alexander Mouskhelishvili Medea Nioradze Martha Tappen
Abstract:
The site of Dmanisi in the Eurasian republic of Georgia has yielded striking hominin, faunal and archaeological material as evidence for the presence of early Homo outside Africa 1.77 million years ago, documenting an important episode in human evolution. Here we describe a beautifully preserved skull and jawbone from a Dmanisi hominin of this period who had lost all but one tooth several years before death. This specimen not only represents the earliest case of severe masticatory impairment in the hominin fossil record to be discovered so far, but also raises questions about alternative subsistence strategies in early Homo.
Published in Nature on the 5th of April, 2005.
DOI: 10.1038/434717b
PMID: 15815618
Specimens
- D3444, a Homo erectus specimen from Dmanisi, Georgia.
