Dental News - Previously lost fossilised human teeth produce new data

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 1. March 2018

save

BURGOS, Spain: For the first time, scientists have been able to study the conserved original fossil remains of Peking Man. The six teeth belonging to Homo erectus were found in the mid-twentieth century at the Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Zhoukoudian in Beijing in China, but were lost during shipping to the US in the 1930s. Declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, it has produced numerous human remains.

The Peking Man is one of the earliest and most emblematic hominins ever found. Since the loss of the remains, “for research on the fossil humans found at the site during the 1930s, plaster replicas of very poor quality have been used, as well as the descriptions and sketches that the researcher Franz Weidenreich left us,” said one of the study’s researchers Dr José María Bermúdez de Castro, coordinator of the Paleobiology of Hominins programme.

According to the scientists from the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) in Burgos and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, the study provides new original data, including the endo-structure of most Zhoukoudian H. erectus teeth preserved to date. The new evidence confirms the similarities of Zhoukoudian and other East Asian mid-Middle Pleistocene hominins such as Hexian and Yiyuan, allowing the definition of a dental pattern potentially characteristic of the population commonly referred to as classic H. erectus.

The fossils were initially attributed by the Canadian anthropologist Davison Black to the species Sinanthropus pekinensis. Later, in the 1950s, these fossils were included in the species H. erectus. Co-author and -researcher Dr María Martinón-Torres, Director of the CENIEH, explained that it was long held that this species was a direct ancestor of modern humans and all the human fossils found in what the west call the Far East and in the current islands of Indonesia have been attributed systematically to H. erectus.

The researchers now hope their recent work will lead the way to a definitive revision of all the human fossil material from the Far East.”

The study, titled “The fossil teeth of the Peking Man”, was published on 1 February 2018 in the Nature journal.

Tags:

To post a reply please login or register

Research on fossilised teeth redefines human and Neanderthal history

LONDON, UK: Looking back in time through archaeology has revealed many insights to explain where Homo sapiens came from. By examining teeth, scientists have...

Discovery of fossilized jawbone rewrites dates of human migration

NEW YORK, U.S.: An international team of researchers from Israel and America has discovered a fossilized jawbone that they say is the earliest modern human ...

Research suggests human dairy consumption has longer history than previously thought

YORK, UK: The history of dairy consumption among European populations is a surprisingly contentious subject. Lactase persistence—the ability to digest the...

Discovery of fossilised teeth in Indonesia stirs up old debate

BRISBANE, Australia: South East Asia is a key region for understanding the human dispersal out of Africa and down to Australia. It is a common consensus ...

Fossil teeth trace human lineage to rat-like creature

PORTSMOUTH, UK: According to new research from the University of Portsmouth in England, fossils from the oldest mammals belonging to the line that led to ...

New data paints a clearer picture about Australian dental practitioners

SYDNEY, Australia: Understanding the dental industry is a key function of the Dental Board of Australia, and the board plays an important role in the ...

New world record: German dentist extracts world’s longest human tooth

OFFENBACH, Germany: Tooth extraction is part of the day-to-day business in a dental practice. However, last year, Dr Max Lukas was fairly stunned when he ...

New remineralisation product may provide a long-term solution for dentine hypersensitivity

SEATTLE, US: Existing treatments for dentine hypersensitivity, including desensitisers and dentinal tubule blockers, offer only temporary relief for ...

Futudent expands product portfolio with new cameras

HELSINKI, Finland: Video helps dental care providers explain and document more easily than ever before. This, in turn, helps patients replace fear with ...

New research shows saliva could be key to understanding human evolution

BUFFALO, N.Y., U.S.: Much is already known about saliva’s benefits for food digestion and general oral health. The differences between human saliva and ...

Education

Live webinar
Mon. 22 April 2024
10:00 am EST (New York)