title: Evidence of amelogenesis imperfecta in an early African Homo erectus.
abstract: The teeth of the Homo erectus child (Garba IV) recovered from Melka Kunture Ethiopia and dated to 1.5 Ma are characterized by generalized enamel dysplasia, reduced enamel radio-opacity, and severe attrition. This combination of features is found in a large group of hereditary, generalized enamel dysplasias known as amelogenesis imperfecta (AI). SEM studies carried out on epoxy replicas of teeth from the Garba IV child, confirmed that the defects noted were developmental and not due to diagenesis. The enamel prism arrangement is abnormal and there are deep vertical furrows lacking enamel on both buccal and lingual surfaces of all molars. The lesions differ from those characteristic of linear enamel hypoplasia that form discrete horizontal lesions or pits within otherwise normal enamel. We propose that the Garba IV child is the earliest example of AI and provides a link between palaeoanthropology and molecular biology in investigations of the evolutionary history of genetic disorders.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bio-anthropology and Ancient DNA, Hebrew University, Hadassah Faculty of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12272, Jerusalem, Israel. uri-z@inter.net.il
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zilberman
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piperno
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Condemi
mesh_terms: D000567:Amelogenesis Imperfecta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003744:Dental Enamel Hypoplasia / Q000473:pathology; D005002:Ethiopia; D005580:Fossils; D049690:History, Ancient; D015186:Hominidae; D006801:Humans; D010161:Paleodontology; D011859:Radiography