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The natural environment of the Gansu-Qinghai region in northwest China exhibits spatial variation, resulting in distinct adaptive strategies among populations in different geographical areas. In this study, we analyzed the diachronic trend and regional variations in caries prevalence among 10 different middle and late-Holocene groups by examining dental caries data to explore the correlation between different adaptation strategies and caries frequency. Frequency data was used to compare dental caries between populations, and the Chi-square test was employed to detect statistical differences. A multidisciplinary approach was employed to investigate the relationship between these changes and the adaptive strategies adopted by the populations in this region. The result shows that there was a gradual increase in caries prevalence over time in eastern Gansu, which corresponded with development of millet farming and social hierarchy. In the Hexi Corridor, caries prevalence exhibited fluctuations attributable to climate variability, human migration, and regime change. The research proposes that changes in adaptive strategies due to various social and environmental factors are reflected in human teeth, while also presenting a novel endeavor of aggregating a large, multisite bioarchaeological dataset in order to investigate the interactions between Holocene populations and palaeoenvironments in northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Five multituberculate species have been reported to date from the upper Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) Shahai and Fuxin formations in Liaoning Province, northeastern China. We herein describe an additional species of eobaatarid multituberculate from the Fuxin Formation, Dolichoprion lii, gen. et sp. nov., with a long (relative to height) crown of the fourth lower premolar, which is unique among eobaatarids. We also describe the upper dentition possibly referable to another eobaatarid genus previously known only from lower jaws, Liaobaatar, based on a newly discovered specimen. The new species is the sixth multituberculate (and the fourth eobaatarid) species described from the Shahai and Fuxin formations. These species suggest that multituberculates, especially eobaatarids, were taxonomically quite diverse in the mammalian fauna of East Asia at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodicity of Retzius lines is a key factor in dental development. In this study, we examined the periodicity of Retzius lines in fossil Pongo from South China using polarized light microscope observation of dental ground sections. The periodicities all of the 15 teeth were 9 d. Comparisons of periodicity were made with extant primates, fossil apes and hominins. Periodicity of fossil Pongo from South China was relatively long but fell within the variation of extant Pongo, Gorilla and modern human, and longer than periodicity of Pan and other extant primates. Fossil Pongo from South China was similar to Lufengpithecus and Sivapithecus, shorter than Gigantopithecus and longer than European and African fossil apes and most early hominins in periodicity. Generally, the periodicities of Asian large-body fossil apes were longer than the periodicities of European and African large-body fossil apes in Miocene. Difference among species and trend of evolution in periodicity were analyzed and discussed. We found that periodicity might gradually increase from Proconsul in early Miocene to several fossil apes in Miocene and then Gigantopithecus in Pleistocene. In addition, this study made correlate analysis between periodicity and body mass respectively in males and females of six extant apes and five fossil apes, and found that periodicity positively correlated with body mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the incidence of 25 nonmetric dental traits of the people of the Neolithic Dawenkou culture (6300–4500 BP) sites in Shandong Province, North China with those of other East Asian populations. The Dawenkou teeth had an overwhelmingly greater resemblance to the Sinodont pattern typical of Northeast Asia than to the Sundadont pattern typical of Southeast Asia. Multidimensional scaling using Smith''s mean measure of divergence (MMD) statistic place the Dawenkou sample near the Amur and the North China–Mongolia populations in the area of the plot indicating typical Sinodonty. The existence of the Sinodont population in Neolithic North China suggests a possible continuity of Sinodonty from the Upper Cave population at Zhoukoudian (about 34,000–10,000 BP) to the modern North Chinese. The presence of Sinodonty in Shandong Province shows that the Japan Sea and East China Sea were strong barriers to gene flow for at least 3000 years, because at this time the Jomonese of Japan were fully Sundadont. In addition, we suggest that the descendants of the Dawenkou population cannot be excluded as one of the source populations that contributed to sinodontification in Japan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Focuses on a multituberculate skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Dawangzhangzi, Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province, Northeast China. Discussion of new morphological information for early multituberculates; Description of the holotype of Sinobaatar lingyuanensis specimen; The narrow skull lacking a superorbital crest or postorbital process; The dental formula and dental morphology of cheek teeth; Similiarity to Eobaatar, which places it in the family Eobaataridae; Similarity of the postcranial skeleton to that of other multitubereulates; Implication of Metatarsal V of Sinobaatar articulating only with the cuboid and not having any contact with the calcaneus; Resemblance of carpals to those of Zhangheotherium; Suggestion from the dental features that eobaatarids are intermediate between Late Jurassic multituberculates and the later forms; Implication for the age of the Jehol Biota.

The recently described Denisovan hemimandible from Xiahe, China [F. Chen et al., (2019) Nature 569, 409-412], possesses an unusual dental feature: a 3-rooted lower second molar. A survey of the clinical and bioarchaeological literature demonstrates that the 3-rooted lower molar is rare (less than 3.5% occurrence) in non-Asian Homo sapiens. In contrast, its presence in Asian-derived populations can exceed 40% in China and the New World. It has long been thought that the prevalence of 3-rooted lower molars in Asia is a relatively late acquisition occurring well after the origin and dispersal of H. sapiens. However, the presence of a 3-rooted lower second molar in this 160,000-y-old fossil hominin suggests greater antiquity for the trait. Importantly, it also provides morphological evidence of a strong link between archaic and recent Asian H. sapiens populations. This link provides compelling evidence that modern Asian lineages acquired the 3-rooted lower molar via introgression from Denisovans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Okhotsk culture rose in the Sakhalin, northern Hokkaido and the Kurile Islands during the 5th to 12th century A.D. [Kikuchi T. (1978)]. They represent many characteristics in common not with the Ainu, but with the Northern Mongoloids [Yamaguchi B. (1974), Kozintsev A.G. (1992)]. Studies on the cranial morphology and the mitochondrial DNA haplotypes suggest that the people of the lower Amur region were related to the origin of the Okhotsk people [Ishida H. (1988, 1996), Sato T. et al. (2007, 2009)]. Even with considerable research of crown measurement, consensus has not yet been reached about the origin of the Okhotsk people. The purpose of this paper is to disclose dental metrical relationship for the people of the lower Amur region and the Okhotsk people. We have analyzed the characteristics from crown measurements of Chinese ethnic minorities of the Amur River basin. The majority of the groups around the lower Amur region are the Tungusic hunters. To conduct the study, we used the plaster casts of the permanent dentition of the Amur River basin. We compared with the people of the Amur region, the Okhotsk people and the other North Asia ethnics from crown measurements. We carried out the following statistics: (1) The total crown area, (2) The deviation diagram, (3) The Q-mode correlation coefficients and (4) The cluster analysis. We targeted the Oroqen tribe of the Amur River basin. The result shown in the crown total area and the deviation diagram supported the relatedness, whereas the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional diagrams plotted the Oroqen at the upper end of the Central Asian cluster, which lies far down from the Okhotsk. These results suggested a possibility that the Oroqen was origin of the Okhotsk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miocene large-bodied hominoid fossils play an important role in the study of the origin and early evolution of humans. Lufengpithecus specimens from Yunnan Province, China are highly significant fossils. So far, Lufengpithecus fossils have been found in five areas in Yunnan. The genus Lufengpithecus contains three species: Lufengpithecus lufengensis, Lufengpithecus hudienensis, and Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis. Fauna analysis and paleomagnetic investigation show that they are range from 11 to 6 Ma. This paper focuses on Lufengpithecus teeth fossils and tries to understand the morphological difference and metric variation among them, which will hopefully provide some information for the taxonomy and phylogeny of Lufengpithecus. The three species are nearly similar in dental morphology. As previous studies have indicated, the more distinctive tooth in these three fossil apes is lower P3. The lower P3 of Lufengpithecus lufengensis is bicuspid, while the other two are all unicuspid. Comparing with Lufengpithecus hudienensis, the molar cusps of Lufengpithecus lufengensis are relatively steeper and the occlusal basinsare broader. Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis is closer in dental morphology to Lufengpithecus hudienensis than Lufengpithecus lufengensis. Here we also analyze tooth crown size (MD×LB) in the three species by line chart. From metric comparison, we have found that Lufengpithecus lufengensis is larger than Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis and Lufengpithecus hudienensisas a whole. The lower molars of Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis are close in size to those of Lufengpithecus lufengensis, but larger than those of Lufengpithecus hudienensis. The lower premolars (especially P3) are more robust in Lufengpithecus lufengensis than in the other two species, in which the lower molars are about equally robust. The size proportion of the anterior teeth and postcanine teeth are much larger in Lufengpithecus lufengensisis than in Lufengpithecus hudienensis. We consider that the dental variations seen among these species may be related to their respective geological ages, habitats, and perhaps diets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oroqen are Tungusic hunters of the Amur River basin. We analyzed dental crown measurements from their dental impression models for anthropological characteristics. Sex difference was comparatively larger in the mesiodistal diameters. To examine the Mongoloids' distribution in the Northeast Asia, the data were compared with the results from the previous studies on other Northeast Asian races, using deviation diagrams, cluster analysis, and Multidimensional Scaling from Q-mode correlation coefficients. The Oroqen dentition is classified as Sinodont by the large surface area of their crowns. In the deviation diagram, the Oroqen beared an inverse proportion to the Aleutian Islanders, while showing little difference from the Okhotsk culture people, which suggested a close relation between the two races. The Q-mode correlation coefficients clustered the Oroqen into the Central Asian group with the Buriats and Mongolians. In the analysis of the distances transformed from Q-mode correlation coefficients, the Oroqen was delineated in the neighboring cluster to the Epi-Jomon/Satsumon and the Okhotsk people. It is inferred that the Central Asian group, spreading from Lake Baikal to the Amur basin have gradually mixed with the Baikal group, which later moved into the Amur region from the south. The mixing of the two groups could have been influenced by the geographical features of this area. It would be valuable to gather more data on the groups around the lower Amur region and to evaluate the distribution of the Mongoloids in Eastern Asia.

Presents an abstract for the work `Dental evolution of the orang-utan in China,' by C. K. Ho, G.X. Zhou and D.R. Swindler, from the Sixty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.