Infant Fossil Teeth: Clues to Ancient Human Development
544 views · Published 15 January 2014 · 16:47 · Indexed 10 November 2026
Channel: GBH Forum Network · 2014 · Education
Your dentist knows a lot about your diet and your habits, just by examining your teeth. Evolutionary scientists value teeth too, but their interest lies in the potential of fossil teeth as biomarkers, a record of species development. Infant teeth are especially important because they provide a clear record of weaning patterns, and weaning patterns are important indicators of species development. Professor Tanya Smith's lab analyzes infant fossil teeth to reconstruct the weaning patterns of Neanderthal and early humans. In this video Science for the Public visits Dr. Smith's lab to learn what makes fossil teeth great evolutionary biomarkers. We examine some ancient teeth and record a demonstration of the advanced technology that makes an accurate analysis of ancient teeth possible. And Dr. Smith explains the significance of this type of research. Tanya Smith, PhD,, Associate Professor, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University.
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