Characteristic high‐ and low‐frequency dental traits in sub‐Saharan African populations

Bibliographic Data

ID8311537
AuthorsJoel D Irish (0000-0001-7857-8847, Arizona State University, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume102
Issue4
Pages455-467
Publication date1997-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199704)102:4<455::aid-ajpa3>3.3.co;2-2
OpenAlexW4229930623
LanguageEN
Citations received10

In an earlier investigation (Irish [1993] Biological Affinities of Late Pleistocene Through Modern African Aboriginal Populations: The Dental Evidence [Ann Arbor: University Microfilms]), biological affinities of 32 sub-Saharan and North African dental samples were estimated using comparative analyses of 36 dental morphological traits. Marked dental homogeneity was revealed among samples within each of the two geographic regions, but significant interregional differences were noted. Assuming dental phenetic expression approximates or is an estimate of genetic variation, the present study of 976 sub-Saharan-affiliated Africans indicates they are not closely related to other world groups; they are characterized by numerous morphologically complex crown and root traits. Turner ([1984] Acta Anthropogenetica 8:23–78; [1985] in R Kirk and E Szathmary (eds.): Out of Asia: Peopling the Americas and the Pacific [Canberra: The Journal of Pacific History], pp. 31–78; [1990] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 82:295–318; [1992] Persp. Hum. Biol. 2/Archaeol. Oceania 27:120–127; [1992] in T Akaszawa, K Aoki, and T Kimura (eds.): The Evolution and Dispersal of Modern Humans in Asia [Tokyo: Hokusen-Sha Publishing Co.], pp. 415–438) reports that Northeast Asian/New World sinodonts also have complex teeth relative to Europeans, Southeast Asian sundadonts, Australian/Tasmanians, and Melanesians. However, sinodonty is characterized by UI1 winging, UI1 shoveling, UI1 double shoveling, one-rooted UP1, UM1 enamel extension, M3 agenesis, and three-rooted LM1. Sub-Saharan peoples exhibit very low frequencies of these features. It is proposed that the collection of dental traits which best differentiate sub-Saharan Africans from other worldwide samples includes high frequencies of the Bushman Canine, two-rooted UP1, UM1 Carabelli's trait, three-rooted UM2, LM2 Y-groove pattern, LM1 cusp 7, LP1 Tome's root, two-rooted LM2, UM3 presence, and very low incidences of UI1 double shoveling and UM1 enamel extension. This suite of diagnostic traits is termed the sub-Saharan African dental complex. Am J Phys Anthropol 102:455–467, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Affinities · Archaeology · Biological anthropology · Biological dispersal · Biology · Evolutionary biology · Geography · Hum · Out of africa · Paleoanthropology · Population · Sociology · Demography · dental development and anomalies · Forensic and Genetic Research · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History

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