Re: Canine teeth

Arlyn Christopherson (arlynchristo@delphi.com)
Tue, 6 Jun 95 00:28:35 -0500

Most primates have more-or-less developed snouts, with plenty of
room to anchor a canine tooth. Very young primates, even when
they have all their teeth, have reduced canines - and reduced
snouts too.

Many of the morphological characteristics of the human head are
similar to those of infant apes, including a flat face, reduced
canines, and a relatively rounded cranium. In fact, the idea has
been advanced that possibly a retention of juvenile ape features
may supply a mechanism for the evolution of the human head.

What if the great enlargement of the skull is mechanically linked
to the reduction of the face and the reduction of the canines.
Perhaps the reduced canines are just an accident of architecture!

Arlyn