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A genetic model of dental reduction through the probable mutation effect
Author(s) -
McKee Jeffrey K.
Publication year - 1984
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.1330650302
Subject(s) - reduction (mathematics) , mutation , medicine , dentistry , genetics , biology , mathematics , geometry , gene
A simulation approach is used in order to elucidate the nature of the hypothesized “probable mutation effect” as it applies to dental reduction in man. Computer‐generated simulations of the accumulation of mutations in a human gene pool show the results of the proposed model under the influence of various parameters, as well as illustrating the nature of such genetic change through time. This approach supports a polygenic model of the probable mutation effect as a viable hypothesis for an explanation of the dental reduction which has occurred in some human populations over the last 40,000 years.