Re: Ardi's canine teeth



Ron O wrote:
A big deal was made about the reduced size of Ardi's canine teeth.
This seems to be a general character of all the bipedal hominids.
Even Australopithicus robustus and bosei with their massive teeth had
reduced canine teeth relative to other apes. Now we know that the
reduction in canine teeth was present in bipedal apes that were still
quite arboreal with grasping toes and long arms.

They gave a sort of bogus argument as to the reason for the
reduction. The claim that it was some type of sexual selection. Pair
bonding and bringing food back to the mate. Canines have other
functions, they aren't just for display and male rivalries. They are
an apes main offensive and defensive weapons. Apes do not have claws,
but they have fingernails designed to support brachiation through the
trees. It seems to me that the obivous reason for reduction in your
best weapon is because you have developed another one that is better.
This means that the bipeds were tool users. A rock in the hand is
better than a canine in the mouth close to vital systems like eyes and
brains. A club might be even better at keeping danger away from your
face and head.

Another possibility -- as a chimp, baboon, etc, I need those canines
to defend myself if a predator sneaks up on me through the grass. But
if I'm bipedal, and my eyes are above the grass, I can see the
predator from further away. Hence less need for big canines.

Then again, if I'm more intelligent than the average mammal, I can
find ways of dealing with predators that don't involve a tooth-against-
tooth competition.

The main argument that I have seen for the long length of the arm
bones for hominids up to and including Homo habalis is that even
though they were bipedal they still used the trees quite often and
retained that arboreal feature. What do bipeds on the savannah need
arms hanging down to their knees for? One thing would be leverage for
tool use. These guys might have been stars in the major leagues as
pitchers. Just imagine facing a guy on the mound that had the
strength of a chimp and a foot or more of relative arm length in his
wind up? Modern humans do not need that strength and leverage any
longer because we developed better tools like spears, atlatls, bows,
and AK47s. We also haven't needed long canines for the same reasons.

Wouldn't this make more sense? Increased tool use as one of the
selective agents for bipedal locomotion. Ardi would have had to have
been an effective enough tool user to give up their canine weapons.

Which makes me wonder -- when did hominids make the leap from using
tools for cracking nuts, cutting meat, etc., to using them as
defensive (or offensive) weapons?

Must'a been that monolith thing... ;-)

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ardis canine teeth
    ... This seems to be a general character of all the bipedal hominids. ... Even Australopithicus robustus and bosei with their massive teeth had ... reduced canine teeth relative to other apes. ... She may not have had to be any smarter than a chimp to hang ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Ardis canine teeth
    ... Even Australopithicus robustus and bosei with their massive teeth had ... reduced canine teeth relative to other apes. ... This means that the bipeds were tool users. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Pic of front tooth that is chipped. bonding?
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  • Pic of front tooth that is chipped. bonding?
    ... Should i use bonding to fix chip in front tooth or will the white ... two over from left canine. ... My front bottom teeth are pushed to the left. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Should I Have Invisalign After Braces or Not?
    ... envisioned before having the treatment. ... my teeth is not photogenic in short. ... my upper teeth is ... incisor next to my right canine is tucked in a little bit. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)