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Additional features of Ainu dentition. V. Peopling of the pacific
Author(s) -
Turner Christy G.,
Hanihara Kazuro
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330460104
Subject(s) - polynesians , dentition , sexual dimorphism , biology , demography , evolutionary biology , geography , zoology , paleontology , population , sociology
Crown morphology of 85 plaster dental casts from skeletal and living Ainus of less than 1/8 non‐Ainu admixture is described and compared for microevolutionary and origins considerations. There is no significant sex dimorphism and few inter‐sample differences through time. Inter‐observer differences occur where observation standards are poorly established. Ainu teeth exhibit a simplified pattern and have trait frequencies more like those of Polynesians and Micronesians than like Chinese, Japanese or Europeans. There is no dental evidence in support of a Caucasoid origin or close relationship. Similarities outnumber differences between Ainu teeth and those of Micronesians and Polynesians suggestive of a past biological relationship.