Articles
New visions of dental tissue research: Tooth development, chemistry, and structure
Tanya M. Smith,
Paul Tafforeau,
Tanya M. Smith
Tanya Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, and an Associated Scientist in the Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Her primary research centers on the fundamental nature of dental microstructure, including its variation in hominoid primates, as well as applications for understanding primate ontogeny and phylogeny.
Search for more papers by this authorPaul Tafforeau
Paul Tafforeau is a member of the imaging group of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). His main research is on fossil and modern primate tooth structure, microstructure and development. He is also in charge of the development of synchrotron X-ray imaging for paleontology at the ESRF.
Search for more papers by this author
Tanya M. Smith,
Paul Tafforeau,
Tanya M. Smith
Tanya Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, and an Associated Scientist in the Department of Human Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Her primary research centers on the fundamental nature of dental microstructure, including its variation in hominoid primates, as well as applications for understanding primate ontogeny and phylogeny.
Search for more papers by this authorPaul Tafforeau
Paul Tafforeau is a member of the imaging group of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). His main research is on fossil and modern primate tooth structure, microstructure and development. He is also in charge of the development of synchrotron X-ray imaging for paleontology at the ESRF.
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Teeth are one of the best preserved and most commonly recovered elements in primate fossil assemblages. Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic hypotheses often rely on dental characters, despite considerable evidence of homoplasy in tooth form and large variation in tooth size within and among primates.1,2 Recent studies have led to new areas of research centered on incremental tooth development, chemical composition, and internal structure. Due to rapid technological developments in imaging and elemental sampling, these new approaches have the potential to increase our understanding of developmental biology, including not only changes in the pace of growth and reproduction, but also our assessments of diets, migration patterns, environments, and taxonomy. The integration of these temporal, chemical, and structural approaches heralds a bright future for the role of dental tissue research in evolutionary anthropology. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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