Additional features of Ainu dentition. V. Peopling of the pacific.
Crown morphology of 85 plaster dental casts from skeletal and living Ainus of less than 1/8 non-Ainu admixture is described and compared for microevolutionary and origins considerations. There is no significant sex dimorphism and few inter-sample differences through time. Inter-observer differences occur where observation standards are poorly established. Ainu teeth exhibit a simplified pattern and have trait frequencies more like those of Polynesians and Micronesians than like Chinese, Japanese or Europeans. There is no dental evidence in support of a Caucasoid origin or close relationship. Similarities outnumber differences between Ainu teeth and those of Micronesians and Polynesians suggestive of a past biological relationship.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003817:Dentition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D012737:Sex Factors