ANALYTICAL METHODS OF DENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY & FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY –AN OVERVIEW

2021 ◽  
pp. 190-199
Author(s):  
Sonalee Shah ◽  
Amit Wasti
Keyword(s):  
Forensic Odontology ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Developmental Stress ◽  
Dental Anthropology ◽  
Morphological Variations ◽  
Size Number ◽  
Occlusal Surfaces ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Innovative Techniques

Dental Anthropology is a scientic discipline, which deals with studies of sexual dimorphism, paleodemography, oral evolutionary trends, paleodiet, biodistance and paleopathology through the analysis & comparison of the dentition of extinct and modern human populations by the study of Non-metric morphological variations (dental morphological features) and metric morphological trends of the dentition of human populations over time (prehistoric and modern) and space impact (ie.ethnic inuences) on them along-with their relation to the processes of adaptation and diet changes that contributed to the evolution of the current dental system and thereby the human race.(1,3,5) Teeth exhibit a wide array of variables, ranging from those largely controlled by genes to those largely dictated by environment. Anthropological questions focusing on teeth therefore, include issues of population origins and population relationships using information on (tooth morphology, size, number), diet and behavior (attrition, crown chipping, tooth-tool use), health (caries, abscesses, periodontal disease, calculus), and developmental stress (hypoplasia, asymmetry).Traits showing a wider distribution and higher frequency suggest a more ancient origin. (7) Apart from classical methods in this eld, many innovative techniques such as extraction of ancient DNA (aDNA), trace element and stable isotope analyses methods are used . Also, the analysis of development of microwear and confocal analyses of occlusal surfaces of teeth is done for documenting tooth use and masticatory function. Dental anthropologists and forensic odontologists can thus, together decipher problems associated with craniofacial identication & can also collaborate in museum model reconstructions out of skull bones for Forensic Facial Approximation.

Readjustment of the Standard ASUDAS to Encompass Dental Morphological Variations in Plio-Pleistocene Hominins

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 32-48
Author(s):  
M. Louail ◽  
S. Prat
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
State University ◽  
Arizona State University ◽  
Dental Anthropology ◽  
Morphological Variations ◽  
Fossil Hominins ◽  
Fossil Hominin

The standard ASUDAS scoring system (Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System) is used to assess dental morphological variations in modern humans. It is also frequently used to study, score, and compare morphological variations in fossil hominin taxa and to examine their phylogenetic relationships. However, using ASUDAS in studies of this type is under debate because it is based on modern Homo sapiens populations and does not appear to cover all variations observed in fossil Plio-Pleistocene homi- nins. Our observations and coding of 178 dentals casts of Plio-Pleistocene specimens based on ASUDAS and from the literature have confirmed the need to adapt the standard system to fossil hominins. In this initial study, we propose that the scoring procedures for some morphological characters need to be readjusted, while others could be standardized following the ASUDAS system.

scholarly journals The weirdest people in the world?

2010 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 61-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Henrich ◽  
Steven J. Heine ◽  
Ara Norenzayan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
The World ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Phenomenon

AbstractBehavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world's top journals based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Researchers – often implicitly – assume that either there is little variation across human populations, or that these “standard subjects” are as representative of the species as any other population. Are these assumptions justified? Here, our review of the comparative database from across the behavioral sciences suggests both that there is substantial variability in experimental results across populations and that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of the species – frequent outliers. The domains reviewed include visual perception, fairness, cooperation, spatial reasoning, categorization and inferential induction, moral reasoning, reasoning styles, self-concepts and related motivations, and the heritability of IQ. The findings suggest that members of WEIRD societies, including young children, are among the least representative populations one could find for generalizing about humans. Many of these findings involve domains that are associated with fundamental aspects of psychology, motivation, and behavior – hence, there are no obviousa priorigrounds for claiming that a particular behavioral phenomenon is universal based on sampling from a single subpopulation. Overall, these empirical patterns suggests that we need to be less cavalier in addressing questions ofhumannature on the basis of data drawn from this particularly thin, and rather unusual, slice of humanity. We close by proposing ways to structurally re-organize the behavioral sciences to best tackle these challenges.

scholarly journals Functional relationship between dental macrowear and diet in Late Pleistocene and recent modern human populations

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Fiorenza ◽  
Stefano Benazzi ◽  
Gregorio Oxilia ◽  
Ottmar Kullmer
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Functional Relationship ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Populations

scholarly journals The Genome of a Mongolian Individual Reveals the Genetic Imprints of Mongolians on Modern Human Populations

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 3122-3136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haihua Bai ◽  
Xiaosen Guo ◽  
Dong Zhang ◽  
Narisu Narisu ◽  
Junjie Bu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Populations

Casualties and behavior of populations during earthquakes

1970 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 1309-1313
Author(s):  
Cinna Lomnitz
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Earthquake Engineering ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Emergency Measures

abstract A positive correlation is established between the time of day and the number of victims in Chilean earthquakes. This correlation is attributed to a 24-hr cycle of dwelling occupancy. The incidence of foreshocks lowers the number of casualties. These observations are of interest to earthquake engineering design and to emergency measures for the protection of human populations in earthquakes.

scholarly journals Wintertime stress, nursing, and lead exposure in Neanderthal children

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. eaau9483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya M. Smith ◽  
Christine Austin ◽  
Daniel R. Green ◽  
Renaud Joannes-Boyau ◽  
Shara Bailey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Weight Loss ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Metal Exposure ◽  
Developmental Stress ◽  
The Relationship

Scholars endeavor to understand the relationship between human evolution and climate change. This is particularly germane for Neanderthals, who survived extreme Eurasian environmental variation and glaciations, mysteriously going extinct during a cool interglacial stage. Here, we integrate weekly records of climate, tooth growth, and metal exposure in two Neanderthals and one modern human from southeastern France. The Neanderthals inhabited cooler and more seasonal periods than the modern human, evincing childhood developmental stress during wintertime. In one instance, this stress may have included skeletal mobilization of elemental stores and weight loss; this individual was born in the spring and appears to have weaned 2.5 years later. Both Neanderthals were exposed to lead at least twice during the deep winter and/or early spring. This multidisciplinary approach elucidates direct relationships between ancient environments and hominin paleobiology.

scholarly journals Studies on macromorphological taxonomic variations in Abutilon species of Indian Thar Desert

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1929
Author(s):  
Ilham Bano ◽  
Deora G.S.
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Shape ◽  
Thar Desert ◽  
Fruit Colour ◽  
Seed Structure ◽  
Morphological Variations ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Size Number ◽  
Flower Diameter ◽  
Important Medicinal Plant ◽  
Shape And Size

Abutilon is an important medicinal plant. Its various plant parts such as leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds were used to treat various diseases and ailments from the ancient time. Present work deals with the investigation of three species of Abutilonviz. Abutilon indicum, Abutilon pannosumand Abutilon ramosum with a view to study macro morphological variations and to identify a set of diagnostic characters for individual Abutilon species. Distinct variations exist in stem surface and colour, leaf shape and size, flower diameter, fruit colour, shape and size, number of mericarps per fruit and seed structure. All these macromorphological variations were helpful in identification and delineation of the plant species.

Palaeolithic Assemblages associated with Youngest Toba Tuff deposits from the Upper Gundlakamma river basin, Andhra Pradesh, India

2021 ◽  
pp. SP515-2020-187
Author(s):  
Devara Anil ◽  
P. Ajithprasad ◽  
Mahesh Vrushab
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Andhra Pradesh ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Climatic Impacts ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Human Colonization ◽  
Behavioural Adaptations

AbstractArchaeological and geological remains associated with the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) deposits in India are seen as significant proxies for reconstructing 1) Initial modern human colonization of India and 2) Possible climatic impacts of the Toba super-eruption of 74 ka on Indian climate and hominin behaviour. In order to gain further insights into the environmental impacts and behavioural adaptations of human populations in India before and after the Toba eruption, we investigated archaeological horizons associated with the Toba ash beds along the Gundlakamma basin in Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Here, lithic artefacts were identified below and above the YTT deposits. The YTT deposits in the Gundlakamma river basin has a maximum thickness of 50 cm, comparatively thinner than those at the better investigated valleys of the adjacent Jurreru and Sagileru in Andhra Pradesh and the Son, Madhya Pradesh, India. Our surveys indicate that the Palaeolithic assemblages associated with YTT deposits from the Gundlakamma river basin can provide significant insights on the issues and debates surrounding the Toba archaeology.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5729449

scholarly journals Testing the utility of dental morphological trait combinations for inferring human neutral genetic variation

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (20) ◽  
pp. 10769-10777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Rathmann ◽  
Hugo Reyes-Centeno
Keyword(s):  
Modern Human ◽  
Genomic Variation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Dental Morphology ◽  
Genomic Signatures ◽  
Neutral Genetic Variation ◽  
Tooth Form ◽  
Dental Traits ◽  
Population Affinity

Researchers commonly rely on human dental morphological features in order to reconstruct genetic affinities among past individuals and populations, particularly since teeth are often the best preserved part of a human skeleton. Tooth form is considered to be highly heritable and selectively neutral and, therefore, to be an excellent proxy for DNA when none is available. However, until today, it remains poorly understood whether certain dental traits or trait combinations preserve neutral genomic signatures to a greater degree than others. Here, we address this long-standing research gap by systematically testing the utility of 27 common dental traits and >134 million possible trait combinations in reflecting neutral genomic variation in a worldwide sample of modern human populations. Our analyses reveal that not all traits are equally well-suited for reconstructing population affinities. Whereas some traits largely reflect neutral variation and therefore evolved primarily as a result of genetic drift, others can be linked to nonstochastic processes such as natural selection or hominin admixture. We also demonstrate that reconstructions of population affinity based on many traits are not necessarily more reliable than those based on only a few traits. Importantly, we find a set of highly diagnostic trait combinations that preserve neutral genetic signals best (up to x∼r = 0.580; 95% r range = 0.293 to 0.758; P = 0.001). We propose that these trait combinations should be prioritized in future research, as they allow for more accurate inferences about past human population dynamics when using dental morphology as a proxy for DNA.

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