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April 18, 2011

If These Teeth Could Talk


What was really on the menus of our ancestors? University of Arkansas anthropologist Peter Ungar uses high tech dental scans to find out more about the diets of hominids, a technique that sometimes leads to new and very different conclusions. While anthropologists traditionally determine the diets of our ancestors by examining the size and shape of teeth and jaws, Ungar's powerful microscopes paint a more detailed picture by looking at wear patterns on teeth. And, sometimes what the teeth and jaws are built for is not always the preferred diet.

Credit: National Science Foundation


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