• DOI:10.1038/434717b
• Corpus ID: 52800194

Anthropology: The earliest toothless hominin skull

@article{Lordkipanidze2005AnthropologyTE,
  title={Anthropology: The earliest toothless hominin skull},
  author={David Lordkipanidze and Abesalom Vekua and Reid Ferring and G Philip Rightmire and Jordi Agust{\'i} and Gocha Kiladze and Alexander Mouskhelishvili and Medea Nioradze and Marcia Ponce de Le{\'o}n and Martha Tappen and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2005},
  volume={434},
  pages={717-718}
}

• D. Lordkipanidze, A. Vekua, +8 authors C. Zollikofer
• Published 7 April 2005
• Biology, Geography
• Nature

The site of Dmanisi in the Eurasian republic of Georgia has yielded striking hominin, faunal and archaeological material as evidence for the presence of early Homo outside Africa 1.77 million years ago, documenting an important episode in human evolution. Here we describe a beautifully preserved skull and jawbone from a Dmanisi hominin of this period who had lost all but one tooth several years before death. This specimen not only represents the earliest case of severe masticatory impairment in the hominin fossil record to be discovered so far, but also raises questions about alternative subsistence strategies in early Homo.