Background

Our understanding of human evolution depends on reliable taxonomic identification of fossils and an understanding of their phylogenetic relationships. Teeth are a key source of evidence: they are well-preserved in the fossil record and their morphology is under strong genetic control. State-of-the-art methods involve 3D morphological analysis of internal dental structures, but due to statistical challenges and fossils frequently missing teeth, these analyses focus on each tooth position individually. This means that important aspects of variation across the tooth row are not captured, and as a result, key issues in hominin systematics remain unresolved.

Project

TOOTHROW will address these issues by developing a novel methodological framework to analyse the morphology of the entire tooth row in a single analysis, even in incomplete specimens. The project is hosted at the Unit for Theoretical Biology, within the Department of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Vienna. You can read more about the project here.

Team

Thomas Davies is a palaeoanthropologist with a research focus on hominin dental morphology. His work investigates the evolution of the hominin dentition, and explores the implications for important transitions in the course of human evolutionary history.

Philipp Mitteröcker is a theoretical biologist and evolutionary biologist with strong interests in human and animal evolution, evolutionary medicine, biological anthropology, statistics, and the philosophy of science.