News

In August 2026, Luca Fiorenza was invited to deliver a Plenary Lecture at the 22nd Congress of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) in Melbourne, Australia. In his presentation, “Learning from the past: a journey into Evolutionary Dentistry”, Luca explored how the study of teeth can provide unique insights into the relationship between diet, environment and human evolution. Drawing on evidence from living primates, archaeological populations and fossil hominins, the talk highlighted how dental morphology, histology, elemental mapping

For the second consecutive year I have been named among Australia’s Top 250 researchers in the 2026 Research Magazine published by The Australian. I have been recognised as national leader in the field of Anthropology. The Research Magazine’s team looked at the number of citations for each paper published in the best 20 journals of each particular field over the past five years. This is not only a great result individually, but it also demonstrates the quality of the work

Our new study on dental wear in Australian Aboriginal individuals has just been published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology.Tooth wear is often viewed as a pathological condition, but in many past and present populations it reflects normal adaptation to diet and behavior. In this study, we applied clinical wear-assessment tools to track natural (physiological) tissue loss in first molars of seven individuals from the Yuendumu Aboriginal community, who lived through a dietary transition from traditional hunter-gatherer foods to

  Luca Fiorenza was recognised among Australia’s top researchers in 2025 by the The Australian’s Research Magazine as Leading Researcher in Anthropology. The Australian’s 2025 Research magazine names the top researcher and top research institution in each of 250 fields of research, based on the quality and impact of their work. Anthropology was listed under Social Sciences. Luca Fiorenza was one of the 29 Australia’s leading researchers in the social sciences – one selected from each of the 29 fields

We are pleased to announce that our Discovery Project titled “Unravelling the secrets of tooth enamel: implications for human evolution”, in collaboration with Associate Professor Jing Fu (Monash University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), Professor Stefano Benazzi (University of Bologna), Professor Ottmar Kullmer (Senckenberg Research Institute), and Dr Carol Mosca (CSIRO Food Innovation Centre) will be funded by the Australian Research Council for a total of $665,767. This project aims to investigate the intricate relationship between morphology, wear and

Our new study on the orangutan’s ecological diversity has been recently published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology. Orangutans are found in tropical rainforests of Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatra (Pongo abelii and Pongo tapanuliensis), and they are primarily considered frugivorous species. However, ecological studies reported differences in feeding behavior between these species. P. pygmaeus spend more time feeding on low quality foods, such as bark and tough vegetation than do P. abelii. The aim of this study is

Our new study on the biomechanics of Neanderthal’s anterior dentition has been recently published in the Journal of Human Evolution. Neanderthal anterior teeth are very large (significantly larger than those of modern humans) and have a distinctive morphology characterised by robust “shovel-shaped” crowns. These features are seen as adaptive responses in dissipating heavy mechanical loads resulting from masticatory and non masticatory activities. This assumption (Anterior Dental Load Hypothesis; ADLH) is based on the heavily worn front teeth that characterise most

Our new study on the masticatory habits, diet and biomechanics of the Neanderthal specimen of Bourgeois-Delaunay 1 has been recently published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology. Teeth are the first structures involved in food processing. As so, they are perfect to reconstruct the diet of extinct populations as well as to help revealing their masticatory habits. This study evaluates the macrowear pattern of the adult Neanderthal Bourgeois-Delaunay 1 (BD 1) along with cementum volume measurements in molars distinguishing

Our new study on the analysis of lower molar macrowear in Pleistocene humans and more recent modern human groups has been recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Our study reveals different wear patterns among modern human populations exhibiting distinct lifestyles. Hunter-gatherers’ macrowear pattern, who mostly relies on meat intake, significantly differs from those early farmer societies, while human groups with a mixed-diet display an intermediate wear pattern between both. These finding support the hypothesis that the material culture

We are pleased to announce that our Discovery Project titled “From foraging to farming. Human adaptations during major transitions”, in collaboration with Professor Stefano Benazzi (University of Bologna) and Professor Rachel Sarig (Tel Aviv University), will be funded by the Australian Research Council for a total of $717,816. This project aims to investigate the causes that led to the human demographic explosion occurred during the Neolithic Revolution by analysing dental tissues through cutting-edge methods. This project expects to generate novel