An extended childhood, a key feature of human development, may have begun much earlier than previously thought. Fossil teeth from one of the earliest known members of the Homo genus show a mix of slow, humanlike tooth growth in childhood followed by a rapid, chimplike dental spurt. The teeth of an 11-year-old individual revealed that premolar and molar growth slowed until about age 5, then accelerated, suggesting an early stage in the evolution of longer childhoods, according to a study by Christoph Zollikofer and colleagues at the University of Zurich. The fossils, found at Dmanisi in Georgia and dating to between 1.77 and 1.85 million years ago, may belong to an undetermined Homo species. Zollikofer’s team used X-ray technology to study microscopic growth lines in the fossil teeth, providing the most detailed look at dental development in ancient hominids. The study suggests that the Dmanisi individuals may have had an early form of extended childhood, potentially linked to evolving social structures like shared childcare. However, other experts argue that the dental development of the Dmanisi youth still closely resembles that of chimps, suggesting rapid growth rather than a longer childhood.
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