High-Resolution Laser Digitizing of Early Hominid Molars

孤立的牙齿和包含牙齿的颌骨碎片在早期原始人化石中占有相当大的比例。这些标本是继续感兴趣和研究的焦点，并将有助于未来关于原始人系统发育的辩论。目前分析据称不同物种的牙齿之间差异的方法受到现有方法的限制。该项目将实施新的三维激光扫描技术，以记录和分析已知类人物种的犬齿后牙冠之间的差异，并将相同的技术应用于磨牙化石的评估。每个牙冠表面的数据将存储在改进的计算机辅助设计系统中并进行分析，每个牙冠表面通常超过33,000个离散的3D曲面点。将使用叠加和简单的有限元缩放技术来分析牙齿的表面数据。这些数据应该有助于揭示人类磨牙的新的、有用的系统发育和功能模式。

Isolated teeth, and jaw fragments containing teeth, represent a significant proportion of early hominid fossils. These specimens are the focus of continuing interest and study, and will contribute to future debates on hominid phylogeny. Current methods of analysis of differences between teeth of purportedly different species are limited by current methodologies. This project will implement new three dimensional laser scanning technologies to record and analyze differences between postcanine dental crowns of known hominoid species and apply the same technology to the assessment of fossil molars. The data for each crown surface, which generally exceeds 33,000 discreet 3D surface points per crown, will be stored and analyzed in a modified computer assisted design system. Superimposition and simple finite element scaling techniques will be used to analyze surface data from the teeth. These data should prove instrumental in revealing new and useful phylogenetic as well as functional patterns in hominoid molars.