Normal wear could explain differences in hominin jaw shapes
Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - 11:31
in Paleontology & Archaeology
(Phys.org) —Fossil Homo jawbones found at Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia have different shapes. Previously, scientists were unable to explain the reason for their diversity. By comparing the Dmanisi mandibles to jawbones of modern hunter-gatherers, David Lordkipanidze of the University of Zurich and his colleagues have determined that the variation in shape could have been caused by normal wear. The research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.