NEW STUDY ON MACROWEAR PATTERN ASYMMETRY PUBLISHED ON THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Luca Fiorenza
April 10, 2018

Our work on dental macrowear pattern asymmetry in modern human dentition was recently published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. We have analysed tooth wear in Australian Aboriginal people from Yuendumu (Northern Territory) that were at an early stage of transition from a nomadic hunter-gathering lifestyle. We suggest that overall asymmetry in the masticatory apparatus affect occlusal contact areas between antagonist teeth influencing macrowear and chewing efficiency during ontogeny.

You can find the article on the following link:

Oxilia G., Bortolini E., Martini S., Papini A., Boggioni M., Buti L., Figus C., Sorrentino R., Townsend G., Fiorenza L., Cristiani E., Kullmer O., Moggi-Cecchi J. and S. Benazzi 2018. The physiological linkage between molar inclination and dental macrowear pattern. American Journal Physical Anthropology. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23476

Luca Fiorenza

Luca is Head of the Palaeodiet Research Lab and he received his Bachelor/Master degree in Natural Sciences in 2003 at La Sapienza University in Rome (Italy), and completed his PhD in Biological Sciences between the Goethe University and the Senckenberg Research Institute (Frankfurt, Germany) at the end of 2009. During his doctoral degree he was part of an outstanding multidisciplinary network called EVAN (European Virtual Anthropology Network), where he mastered cutting-edge techniques for the study of anatomical variability, including medical imaging, 3D digitisation, display, modelling and programming. Luca’s research interests mostly focus on functional morphology of the masticatory apparatus in human and non-human primates, and on the importance of the role of diet in human evolution.