Growth processes in teeth distinguish modern humans from Homo erectus and earlier hominins.

A modern human-like sequence of dental development, as a proxy for the pace of life history, is regarded as one of the diagnostic hallmarks of our own genus Homo. Brain size, age at first reproduction, lifespan and other life-history traits correlate tightly with dental development. Here we report differences in enamel growth that show the earliest fossils attributed to Homo do not resemble modern humans in their development. We used daily incremental markings in enamel to calculate rates of enamel formation in 13 fossil hominins and identified differences in this key determinant of tooth formation time. Neither australopiths nor fossils currently attributed to early Homo shared the slow trajectory of enamel growth typical of modern humans; rather, both resembled modern and fossil African apes. We then reconstructed tooth formation times in australopiths, in the approximately 1.5-Myr-old Homo erectus skeleton from Nariokotome, Kenya, and in another Homo erectus specimen, Sangiran S7-37 from Java. These times were shorter than those in modern humans. It therefore seems likely that truly modern dental development emerged relatively late in human evolution.     

How Neanderthal molar teeth grew

Growth and development are both fundamental components of demographic structure and life history strategy. Together with information about developmental timing they ultimately contribute to a better understanding of Neanderthal extinction. Primate molar tooth development tracks the pace of life history evolution most closely, and tooth histology reveals a record of birth as well as the timing of crown and root growth. High-resolution micro-computed tomography now allows us to image complex structures and uncover subtle differences in adult tooth morphology that are determined early in embryonic development. Here we show that the timing of molar crown and root completion in Neanderthals matches those known for modern humans but that a more complex enamel-dentine junction morphology and a late peak in root extension rate sets them apart. Previous predictions about Neanderthal growth, based only on anterior tooth surfaces, were necessarily speculative. These data are the first on internal molar microstructure; they firmly place key Neanderthal life history variables within those known for modern humans.     

塑料冠暂时固定纵折后牙的保存治疗

为探讨塑料冠暂时固定纵折后牙的疗效 ,采用自凝塑料冠固定纵折后牙 ,牙合面钻孔行根管治疗后铸造金属全冠修复 .结果表明 :2 8颗患牙中有 2 6颗经治疗后铸造全冠修复 ,成功2 4例 ,成功率达 85.71% .塑料冠固定纵折后牙比单纯金属丝固定效果好 ,且制作简便 .     

Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash,Ethiopia

The origin of anatomically modern Homo sapiens and the fate of Neanderthals have been fundamental questions in human evolutionary studies for over a century. A key barrier to the resolution of these questions has been the lack of substantial and accurately dated African hominid fossils from between 100,000 and 300,000 years ago. Here we describe fossilized hominid crania from Herto, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, that fill this gap and provide crucial evidence on the location, timing and contextual circumstances of the emergence of Homo sapiens. Radioisotopically dated to between 160,000 and 154,000 years ago, these new fossils predate classic Neanderthals and lack their derived features. The Herto hominids are morphologically and chronologically intermediate between archaic African fossils and later anatomically modern Late Pleistocene humans. They therefore represent the probable immediate ancestors of anatomically modern humans. Their anatomy and antiquity constitute strong evidence of modern-human emergence in Africa.     

50例磨牙隐裂的保存治疗的临床疗效观察

目的:分析磨牙隐裂后的临床特点,探讨保存治疗,恢复咀嚼功能的意义。方法:对临床确诊的50例磨牙隐裂进行综合治疗。(1)对有深纹,牙髓活力正常,伴有过敏症状者,调。(2)对伴有牙髓炎或根尖病变者,为防止患牙折裂,经后牙带环外固定,调,常规根管治疗后,观察2周,无症状者,以金属烤瓷牙全冠修复,2年后分析其疗效。结果:通过以上综合治疗,有保存意义的隐裂磨牙经金属烤瓷全冠修复,完全修复患牙正常结构和咀嚼功能45例,失败5例,有效率达90%。结论:对隐裂磨牙采取及时适当的综合治疗,以及综合治疗后全冠修复,绝大多数可保存患牙,恢复咀嚼功能,治疗效果良好。     

Stratigraphic placement and age of modern humans from Kibish, Ethiopia

In 1967 the Kibish Formation in southern Ethiopia yielded hominid cranial remains identified as early anatomically modern humans, assigned to Homo sapiens. However, the provenance and age of the fossils have been much debated. Here we confirm that the Omo I and Omo II hominid fossils are from similar stratigraphic levels in Member I of the Kibish Formation, despite the view that Omo I is more modern in appearance than Omo II. 40Ar/39Ar ages on feldspar crystals from pumice clasts within a tuff in Member I below the hominid levels place an older limit of 198 +/- 14 kyr (weighted mean age 196 +/- 2 kyr) on the hominids. A younger age limit of 104 +/- 7 kyr is provided by feldspars from pumice clasts in a Member III tuff. Geological evidence indicates rapid deposition of each member of the Kibish Formation. Isotopic ages on the Kibish Formation correspond to ages of Mediterranean sapropels, which reflect increased flow of the Nile River, and necessarily increased flow of the Omo River. Thus the 40Ar/39Ar age measurements, together with the sapropel correlations, indicate that the hominid fossils have an age close to the older limit. Our preferred estimate of the age of the Kibish hominids is 195 +/- 5 kyr, making them the earliest well-dated anatomically modern humans yet described.     

Surprisingly rapid growth in Neanderthals

Life-history traits correlate closely with dental growth, so differences in dental growth within Homo can enable us to determine how somatic development has evolved and to identify developmental shifts that warrant species-level distinctions. Dental growth can be determined from the speed of enamel formation (or extension rate). We analysed the enamel extension rate in Homo antecessor (8 teeth analysed), Homo heidelbergensis (106), Homo neanderthalensis ('Neanderthals'; 146) and Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic Homo sapiens (100). Here we report that Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic H. sapiens shared an identical dental development pattern with modern humans, but that H. antecessor and H. heidelbergensis had shorter periods of dental growth. Surprisingly, Neanderthals were characterized by having the shortest period of dental growth. Because dental growth is an excellent indicator of somatic development, our results suggest that Neanderthals developed faster even than their immediate ancestor, H. heidelbergensis. Dental growth became longer and brain size increased from the Plio-Pleistocene in hominid evolution. Neanderthals, despite having a large brain, were characterized by a short period of development. This autapomorphy in growth is an evolutionary reversal, and points strongly to a specific distinction between H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis.     

ESR dates for the hominid burial site of Es Skhul in Israel

The Middle East has been critical to our understanding of recent human evolution ever since the recovery of Neanderthal and early anatomically modern fossils from the caves of Tabun and Skhul (Mount Carmel) over 50 years ago. It was generally believed, on archaeological and morphological grounds, that middle eastern Neanderthals (such as those from Tabun, Amud and Kebara) probably dated from more than 50,000 years ago, whereas the earliest anatomically modern specimens (from Skhul and Qafzeh) probably dated from about 40,000 years. Recent thermoluminescence and electron spin resonance (ESR) determinations, however, have supported biostratigraphy in dating the Qafzeh deposits to an earlier part of the late Pleistocene, probably more than 90,000 years ago. These dates have been questioned on unspecified technical grounds, and it has also been argued that they create explanatory problems by separating the morphologically similar Qafzeh and Skhul samples by some 50,000 years, thus implying a long-term coexistence of early modern humans and Neanderthals in the area. Here we report the first radiometric dating analysis for Skhul, using ESR on bovine teeth from the hominid burial levels. Early uptake and linear uptake ages average 81 +/- 15 and 101 +/- 12 kyr respectively. These analyses suggest that the Skhul and Qafzeh samples are of a similar age and therefore it is possible that the presence of early modern humans in the area was episodic, rather than long-term during the early late Pleistocene.     

New material of the earliest hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad

Discoveries in Chad by the Mission Paleoanthropologique Franco-Tchadienne have substantially changed our understanding of early human evolution in Africa. In particular, the TM 266 locality in the Toros-Menalla fossiliferous area yielded a nearly complete cranium (TM 266-01-60-1), a mandible, and several isolated teeth assigned to Sahelanthropus tchadensis and biochronologically dated to the late Miocene epoch (about 7 million years ago). Despite the relative completeness of the TM 266 cranium, there has been some controversy about its morphology and its status in the hominid clade. Here we describe new dental and mandibular specimens from three Toros-Menalla (Chad) fossiliferous localities (TM 247, TM 266 and TM 292) of the same age. This new material, including a lower canine consistent with a non-honing C/P3 complex, post-canine teeth with primitive root morphology and intermediate radial enamel thickness, is attributed to S. tchadensis. It expands the hypodigm of the species and provides additional anatomical characters that confirm the morphological differences between S. tchadensis and African apes. S. tchadensis presents several key derived features consistent with its position in the hominid clade close to the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans.     

Early Pliocene hominids from Gona, Ethiopia

Comparative biomolecular studies suggest that the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, lived during the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene. Fossil evidence of Late Miocene-Early Pliocene hominid evolution is rare and limited to a few sites in Ethiopia, Kenya and Chad. Here we report new Early Pliocene hominid discoveries and their palaeoenvironmental context from the fossiliferous deposits of As Duma, Gona Western Margin (GWM), Afar, Ethiopia. The hominid dental anatomy (occlusal enamel thickness, absolute and relative size of the first and second lower molar crowns, and premolar crown and radicular anatomy) indicates attribution to Ardipithecus ramidus. The combined radioisotopic and palaeomagnetic data suggest an age of between 4.51 and 4.32 million years for the hominid finds at As Duma. Diverse sources of data (sedimentology, faunal composition, ecomorphological variables and stable carbon isotopic evidence from the palaeosols and fossil tooth enamel) indicate that the Early Pliocene As Duma sediments sample a moderate rainfall woodland and woodland/grassland.     

Mortality profiles of the large herbivores from the Lingjing Xuchang Man Site, Henan Province and the early emergence of the modern human behaviors in East Asia

This paper presents the results of a detailed study of mortality profiles of the large herbivores from the Middle Palaeolithic （MP） bone assemblage of the Lingjing Xuchang Man Site, Henan Province. Based on the analysis of the crown heights of fossil teeth from this assemblage, we come to a conclusion that aurochs （Bos primigenius） and horse （Equus caballus） are the major prey species in this assemblage and the age structures of these animals can be best described as the ＂prime-dominated pattern＂. This study confirmed the well-established notions at many Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites across Eurasia and Africa that MSA/MP foragers were fully effective in hunting aggressive prey species, particularly aurochs and horse. This find indicates that the hunting behaviors and subsistence strategies were not significantly different between MP and UP （the Upper Palaeolithic） humans in East Asia and hence suggests the early emergence of the modern human behaviors in this area.     

Primate facial allometry and interpretations of australopithecine variation.

Pilbeam and Gould have discussed African Plio-Pleistocene hominid evolution in the context of allometry (size-dependent morphological change). These authors demonstrate that some general aspects of australopithecine morphology (tooth, brain and body size) support the hypothesis that certain early African hominids were merely scaled variations of each other at different sizes. They also speculate that the methods applied to these very broad anatomical categories can be extended to more specific and detailed traits, especially in the face and cranium. Such traits underlie most taxonomic and phylogenetic discussions of the early African Hominidae, so it is useful to follow Pilbeam and Gould's lead, as we do here, and investigate the structural differences in the australopithecine face and cranimum in a quantificiable fashion.     

牙髓治疗的后牙纵折451例分析

分析牙髓治疗的后牙发生纵折的原因,并探讨预防措施。对门诊451例牙髓治疗的后牙发生牙纵折的牙齿特点和牙折情况进行检查和分析。牙髓治疗的后牙发生纵折处,有高尖陡坡或／和牙壁薄弱的牙体特征者占80．71％之多。说明高尖陡坡、薄弱牙壁是后牙纵折的重要原因,调[牙合]和冠套修复是对牙髓治疗后牙进行保护和预防纵折的重要措施。     

河南鲤科鱼类咽骨咽齿的比较研究(一)

<正> 一、前言鲤科鱼类以发达的咽骨和咽齿著称。关于鲤科鱼类咽骨咽齿的比较研究,在理论和实践上均具一定意义,对于研究鲤科鱼类分类是极其重要的依据,研究肉食性鱼类胃内容物时,一般饵料易被分解,不易辨认,而咽骨咽齿不易被消化,根据咽骨咽齿的特点可以较精确的判别各种鲤科鱼类。Shepherd氏(1912)简述17种鲤科鱼类咽骨咽齿的形态与食性的关系;朱元鼎氏(1935)对我国鲤科鱼类咽骨咽齿的形态曾作过软详细的研究;Istvanvasarhelyi氏(1958)作过利用咽骨判别鲤科鱼类的报告;小林久雄、前田孟等氏(1962)对日本产的鲤科鱼类也作过比较研究,曾编有详细的检索表作为鉴别标     

河南鲤科鱼类咽骨咽齿的比较研究(二)

<正> 本文记述了密鲴亚科鱼类4属4种,鲤卿亚科鱼类2属2种,现分述如下:I密鲴亚科:咽骨较宽,前后角明显。骨长为骨宽的2.5～4.4倍。体长为骨长的14.3～17.0倍。前肢稍长于后肢。前无齿突顶端尖;后无齿突侧扁,顶端园钝。咽齿1～3列,侧扁,先端尖不带钩,内列齿6～7枚,咀嚼面发达。咽齿1列以上者,外列齿细长而弱,容易     

广东北江鲃亚科鱼类咽骨咽齿的比较研究

<正> 北江水系鲃亚科鱼类的研究已有报导,本文就其咽骨咽齿的形态作比较研究,现分述如下:鲃亚科:咽骨长宽度变异颇大,骨长为骨宽的2.0～6.0倍,体长为骨长的10.0～23.0倍。前肢与后肢约等长或前肢略短于后肢。前角圆钝,后角不显。咽齿2～3列,左右对称,内列5齿,中列2～4齿,外列2齿,内列第1齿一般较小,各齿光滑无锯齿,咀嚼面较宽。     

Early human occupation of the Red Sea coast of Eritrea during the last interglacial

The geographical origin of modern humans is the subject of ongoing scientific debate. The 'multiregional evolution' hypothesis argues that modern humans evolved semi-independently in Europe, Asia and Africa between 100,000 and 40,000 years ago, whereas the 'out of Africa' hypothesis contends that modern humans evolved in Africa between 200 and 100 kyr ago, migrating to Eurasia at some later time. Direct palaeontological, archaeological and biological evidence is necessary to resolve this debate. Here we report the discovery of early Middle Stone Age artefacts in an emerged reef terrace on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea, which we date to the last interglacial (about 125 kyr ago) using U-Th mass spectrometry techniques on fossil corals. The geological setting of these artefacts shows that early humans occupied coastal areas and exploited near-shore marine food resources in East Africa by this time. Together with similar, tentatively dated discoveries from South Africa this is the earliest well-dated evidence for human adaptation to a coastal marine environment, heralding an expansion in the range and complexity of human behaviour from one end of Africa to the other. This new, wide-spread adaptive strategy may, in part, signal the onset of modern human behaviour, which supports an African origin for modern humans by 125 kyr ago.     

β-Catenin和Wnt5a蛋白在人牙齿早期发育过程中的表达

以人牙胚为材料,运用免疫组织化学染色技术分别检测经典Wnt信号通路的β-Catenin和非经典Wnt信号通路的Wnt5a的表达模式．结果表明：从12w人牙胚帽状期到15w钟状期。β-Catenin蛋白在牙上皮细胞的表达强于牙问充质细胞,且其在磨牙细胞的表达强于门牙;随着发育的成熟,β-Catenin蛋白在内釉上皮细胞的表达增强,而在外釉上皮层和星网状层的表达降低．WntSa蛋白在人牙胚中的牙间充质细胞的表达强于牙上皮：从帽状期到钟状期．Wnt5a蛋白在内釉上皮层和星网状层的表达降低,β-Catenin蛋白的表达整体明显高于WntSa．因此,经典Wnt信号通路在人牙齿早期发育过程中发挥重要的作用．     

ESR dating evidence for early modern humans at Border Cave in South Africa

The archaeological and hominid site of Border Cave (KwaZulu, South Africa) has a stratigraphic sequence covering the Middle and Later Stone Ages (MSA and LSA). It has been proposed that four hominid specimens recovered there (BC1 and BC2 of uncertain provenance, and BC3 and BC5 recovered from MSA layers) represent very early examples of anatomically modern humans, supporting an early late-Pleistocene appearance of modern Homo sapiens in Africa. This early appearance, however, has been questioned, largely because of doubts about the stratigraphic positions associated with the specimens and because of the lack of a reliable chronology for the stratigraphic sequence. We now report on the first comprehensive radiometric dating analysis of Border Cave, using electron spin resonance (ESR) on teeth within sediment layers. BC3 is likely to be approximately 70-80 kyr old, and BC5, 50-65 kyr old. BC1 and BC2 are almost certainly less than 90 kyr old. These results, although younger than some age estimates, support the early occurrence of anatomically modern humans at Border Cave. In addition, our results suggest that the Howiesons Poort lithic industry (approximately 45-75 kyr) and the MSA-LSA transition (approximately 35 kyr) are younger than often believed.     

Genetics and the making of Homo sapiens

Understanding the genetic basis of the physical and behavioural traits that distinguish humans from other primates presents one of the great new challenges in biology. Of the millions of base-pair differences between humans and chimpanzees, which particular changes contributed to the evolution of human features after the separation of the Pan and Homo lineages 5-7 million years ago? How can we identify the 'smoking guns' of human genetic evolution from neutral ticks of the molecular evolutionary clock? The magnitude and rate of morphological evolution in hominids suggests that many independent and incremental developmental changes have occurred that, on the basis of recent findings in model animals, are expected to be polygenic and regulatory in nature. Comparative genomics, population genetics, gene-expression analyses and medical genetics have begun to make complementary inroads into the complex genetic architecture of human evolution.