Project description
Exploring the evolution of dental morphology with biomechanics
Dental morphology is a relatively unexplored area in human evolution. How have the teeth of our ancestors adapted to dietary and cultural changes throughout history? Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BITE project aims to chronologically track the evolution of European dental traits in early hominins by examining specimens from the Pleistocene era, including Neanderthals, to modern hunter-gatherers and medieval groups. The research will combine knowledge in palaeoanthropology, paleopathology and dental anthropology while using biomechanical tools and 3D imaging to compare biological data with dietary information. Insight gained from the study will not only fill gaps in human evolutionary biology but may also prove valuable in the field of dentistry.
Objective
We are what we eat. Changes in diet triggered the progressive simplification of the cranio-dental system from our ancestors until the ultimate adaption of our species. Compared to ours, Neanderthals possessed a complex dental morphology interpreted as an adaption for mechanical loads. However, how morphometric dental traits evolved to adapt to diet or cultural habits as well as the pace of these changes throughout human evolution are unknown. BITE represents the first attempt to investigate complementary dental proxies (dental wear, morphology, and enamel thickness) in a constricted, phylogenetically related, and chronologically consecutive European Pleistocene sample, including the populations from the UNESCO-sites of Atapuerca (H. antecessor and Sima de los Huesos) and Neanderthals, for a comparison with a modern human sample, including modern hunter-gatherers, medieval and contemporaneous groups. BITE goes beyond the state of the art as it proposes an innovative, interdisciplinary, and holistic approach employing biological data, high-resolution and 3D image, and biomechanical tools, combined with pre-existing dietary information to provide unprecedented insight into how our ancestors adapted to dietary and/or behavioral demands. The Applicant is an ideal candidate to conduct this multidisciplinary project as she has knowledge in dental anthropology, palaeoanthropology, palaeopathology, and 3D medical imaging, and she will receive training-through-research in biomechanical tools to expand her expertise. This fellowship will position her as a dynamic and independent researcher, being one of the few experts in Biomechanics for the study of hominin evolution in Europe. BITE also represents an opportunity to make visible to the society and scientific community the excellence of Europe's science as a world reference for Human Evolution studies and enhance the collaboration with the private sector (e.g. dentistry) for the design of more resistant artificial crowns.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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09002 Burgos
Spain
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