Doctoral Dissertation Research: Biological Distance and the African American Dentition

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Gene flow occurs whenever two human populations come in contact. Thus, virtually all human populations are genetically dynamic, changing in their composition over time. The African-American population is the result of gene flow between two other identifiable biological groups: West Africans and American of European descent. This project will utilize dental characteristics to trace genetic relationship among these three groups. Characteristics of dental morphology, such as shovel-shaped incisors and Carabelli's trait, are useful for this purpose because they are highly heritable, do not remodel during life (although they can be lost to wear or pathology), and can be compared equally among samples from past and present populations. The results of this research will provide new knowledge about human microevolution in a biocultural setting. By analyzing a variety of samples from each biological group, observations will be made on patterns of genetic change through time and space. Additionally, by comparing the information from this study to other analyses of admixture in African Americans it will be possible to extend our knowledge of the history of the American population. Finally, the product of this study will include tables of dental trait frequencies in each of the three groups. This information is not currently available for African Americans and Americans of European descent.