Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The canines of Ardipithecus ramidus indicate that there was a significantly decreased level of dimorphism when compared with that of our closest relative, the chimpanzee. Chimpanzees have what is called a honing-complex, which means that their canines are used to rip apart tough meats. Homo sapiens and Ar. ramidus do not have a honing complex. Also, the canines of Ar. ramidus are significantly "feminized," meaning they are not sexually dimorphic. This could possibly indicate a decreased level of male-male aggression, when compared with primates we know like chimpanzees. It could also mean a greater amount of equality between the sexes. Suwa et al write, "The dental evidence leads to the hypothesis that the last common ancestors of African apes and hominids were characterized by relatively low levels of canine, postcanine, and body size dimorphism. These were probably the anatomical correlates of comparatively weak amounts of male-male competition, perhaps associated with male philopatry and a tendency for male-female codominance as seen in P. paniscus and ateline species." I believe this says something about human nature. We are not aggressive creatures and domination of one over another is not in our genes. I could be wrong here. If yr reading this and you're an anthropologist feel free to make a comment. I'm still doing my research and there is more to come!

1 comment:

Facebook said...

Hi Mitch,

I was randomly surfing the web and came across your blog site.

it was nice to read my uncle's quote in your blog.

-k. suwa