Fossil Pongo showing different periodicity of Retzius lines
Monday, February 27, 2012 - 09:31
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Periodicity of Retzius lines of primates is a key factor in dental development, and provides information on classification, evolution and adaptation of hominoids in different times and areas. Paleoanthropologists from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, examined the periodicity of Retzius lines in fossil Pongo from South China using polarized light microscope observation of dental ground sections. They found the periodicities for all of the 15 teeth were 9 d, and compared it with those in extant primates, fossil apes and hominins. This study was published in Chinese Science Bulletin (Vol.57, No.7) in March 2012.