This week’s episode is coming to you from Caveat Theater in NYC, featuring Shara Bailey, a paleoanthropologist. Dr. Bailey studies dental morphology and morphometrics in order to learn more about the origin and evolution of modern humans.
Dr. Shara Bailey
Dr. Bailey received her BA, MA, and PhD from Arizona State University. She is currently a professor at NYU and an Associated Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Through her work, Dr. Bailey has studied a large collection of both human and ape dental specimens from many points in history. Currently, Dr. Bailey is studying the “evolution of childhood” through a comparative study of different species’ baby teeth at various points in human evolution.
Why it matters:
Ancient teeth are able to reveal new information about the lives of early humans, including diet, age, and overall health. Dr. Bailey uses these teeth to learn more about the evolution of humans, including their taxonomy and migration patterns. With this information, scientists can discover how early humans evolved to where we are now.
Further reading:
Comparing the tooth shape and crown outlines of Neanderthals and humans:
Using early dental specimens to determine the time of arrival of modern humans in Western Europe:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25908660
Using an upper molar to determine the time of the first early hominid presence in Central Africa:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0084652
To learn more about Dr. Bailey’s External Affiliations:
Center for the Study of Human Origins
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany,