Ecological and evolutionary factors in dental morphological diversification among modern human populations from southern South America

Carregando...
Imagem de Miniatura

Data

2009-12

Título da Revista

ISSN da Revista

Título de Volume

Editor

The Royal Society Publishing

Resumo

The knowledge of processes involved in morphological variation requires the integrated analysis of evolutionary and ecological factors. Here, we investigate the factors responsible for dental variation amonghuman populations from southern South America. The aim of this work is to test the correspondence of dental size and shape variation with geographical, molecular (i.e. mtDNA) and ecological (i.e. climate, diet and food preparation) variables employing comparative phylogenetic methods, which have not previously been extensively applied at a within-species level. The results of the Procrustes analysis show a significant association of shape variables with molecular distance and geography, whereas dental size is not associated with molecular or geographical distances among groups. Phylogenetic generalized leastsquares analysis, which takes into account the evolutionary autocorrelation among populations, shows a significant relationship between dental size variation and diet, while temperature and pottery do not correspond with dental size or shape. Specifically, groups with diets rich in carbohydrates, as well as the maritime hunter-gatherers, have the smallest teeth. In summary, our results support ecological factors as the dominant factor on dental size diversification in this region, while evolutionary relationships account for variation in dental shape.

Descrição

Palavras-chave

Dental size and shape, Phylogenetic comparative method, Temperature, Diet, Pottery

Citação

BERNAL, Valeria; PEREZ, S. Ivan; GONZALEZ, Paula N.; DINIZ FILHO, José Alexandre Felizola. Ecological and evolutionary factors in dental morphological diversification among modern human populations from southern South America. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Biological Sciences, Londres, v. 277, n. 1684, p. 1107-1112, Dec. 2009.