Neanderthal bearing teeth
December 4, 2007
Growth lines inside a Neanderthal tooth (left -- diagonally running lines) and on the outside (right -- horizontal curved lines). Counts and measurements of these lines helped to determine that the child was approximately 8-years-old when it died. Credit: Tanya Smith, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology
An international European research collaboration led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology reports evidence for a rapid developmental pattern in a 100,000 year old Belgian Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis).
The report, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (online edition early December), details how the team used growth lines both inside and on the surfaces of the child's teeth to reconstruct tooth formation time and its age at death. Scientists found differences in the duration of tooth growth in the Neanderthal when compared to modern humans, with the former showing shorter times in most cases. This faster growth resulted in a more advanced pattern of dental development than in fossil and living members of our own species (Homo sapiens).
The Scladina juvenile, which appears to be developmentally similar to a 10-12 year old human, was estimated to be in fact about 8 years old at death. This pattern of development appears to be intermediate between early members of our genus (e.g., Homo erectus) and living people, suggesting that the characteristically slow development and long childhood is a recent condition unique to our own species.
Neanderthal life history, or the timing of developmental and reproductive events, has been under great debate during the past few decades. Across primates, tooth development, specifically the age of molar eruption, is related to other developmental landmarks such as weaning and first reproduction.
Scientists have previously found evidence to both support and refute the idea that Neanderthals grew up differently than our own species. In this new study, researchers used information from the inside of a molar tooth, coupled with data from micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), as well as evidence of developmental stress on the outsides of tooth crowns and roots.
This yields the first chronology, or time sequence, for Neanderthal tooth growth, which differs from living humans. The Scladina Neanderthal grew teeth over a shorter period of time, and has more teeth erupted (present in the mouth), than similarly-aged fossil or living humans (Homo sapiens). This suggests that other aspects of physical development were likely more rapidly achieved as well, implying significant differences in the behaviour or social organization of these ancient humans.
Citation:
Rapid Dental Development in a Middle Paleolithic Belgian Neanderthal
Tanya M. Smith, Michel Toussaint, Donald J. Reid, Anthony J. Olejniczak, Jean-Jacques Hublin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA December 2007
Source: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
-
Homo sapiens arrived in Europe earlier than previously believed
Nov 02, 2011 |
4.4 / 5 (10) |
0
-
Daily grind: Fossil molars add to Neanderthal debate
Nov 22, 2006 |
4.4 / 5 (29) |
0
-
Neanderthal teeth similar to modern teeth
Sep 19, 2005 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Shared genes with Neanderthal relatives not unusual
Oct 31, 2011 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
8
-
Sex with Neanderthals and Denisovans gave healthy boost to human genome: study
Aug 25, 2011 |
4.4 / 5 (17) |
25
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (30) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Pertubance in a model
1 hour ago
-
Cancer drugs and Alzheimer's, Oh my!
9 hours ago
-
Squishing cells
10 hours ago
-
Any books/articles for evolutionary stable strategy models in humans?
21 hours ago
-
Science behind the bore feeling?
Feb 09, 2012
-
Homo Sapien vs. Chimpanzee - Divergence Timeline
Feb 09, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Biology
More news stories
Chilean miners' rescue capsule on show in London
The capsule used to rescue Chilean miners trapped underground for two months goes on display Saturday at the Science Museum in London -- the first time it has been seen in Europe.
17 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...
The question of life in the ancient world
Theres a general feeling that we dont get the Greeks ancient or modern. Many, including heads of state like Angela Merkel, visibly shake their head in exasperation, rightly or wrongly, at ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
2
Soccer -- the link between managers and captains
Soccer managers regard their captains as an extension of themselves, according to new research from Northumbria University, which could explain why Fabio Capello quit as England manager following the FA row ...
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
US workers are 'giving away the store,' costing firms billions
Nearly 70 percent of the nation's service employees give away free goods and services from hamburgers to cable TV costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
19 hours ago |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
8
The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...
Clam fields found at deep, low-temperature Mariana vents
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have marveled at the unusual life forms thriving at high temperature hydrothermal vents of the deep ocean.
Seeing colors in music, tasting flavors in shapes may happen in life's early months
Famed violinist Itzhak Perlman sees a deep forest green whenever he plays a B-flat on his Stradivarius' G string. The A on the E string is red.
Could Venus be shifting gear?
(PhysOrg.com) -- ESAs Venus Express spacecraft has discovered that our cloud-covered neighbour spins a little slower than previously measured. Peering through the dense atmosphere in the infrared, the ...
Team isolates nerve cells involved in storing long term memory and gene proteins associated with them
(Medical Xpress) -- A research team in Taiwan has succeeded in isolating two nerve cells in fruit fly brains that are believed to be the major players in allowing for the formation of long term memories. Furthermore, ...
Is that sleepiness during pregnancy normal or a sign of sleep apnea?
(Medical Xpress) -- Most pregnant women complain of being tired. Some of them however, could be suffering more than normal fatigue associated with their pregnancy; they may have developed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a ...
Dec 05, 2007
Rank: not rated yet