What can developmental defects of enamel reveal about physiological stress in nonhuman primates?

✍ Scribed by Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 381 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1060-1538
• DOI: 10.1002/evan.1027

✦ Synopsis

Because of their durability, teeth are among the most common fossils found. 1 Dental enamel, in particular, is the hardest tissue in the human body and is capable of withstanding great masticatory force. 2 In view of enamel's near invulnerability, it may seem surprising that the process of enamel formation can be rather easily perturbed, resulting in irregularities known as developmental defects of enamel. In fact, such defects are relatively common in many primates, including humans, and provide a permanent record of physiological stress during the dental ontogeny of the individual. Consequently, they are a valuable source of comparative information about the life histories of living and fossil primates.