This European grant of 288,433 euros will allow to develop the BITE research project over the next three years for studying the adaptation to diet and paramasticatory demands of fossil populations of the Middle Pleistocene.
Laura Martín-Francés, affiliated researcher at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) has obtained a European Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship of 288,433 euros to develop the BITE research project (“Bite's evolution: a biomechanical study of Pleistocene humans in Europe”) over the next three years, which will study how fossil populations from the Middle Pleistocene, recovered at the Atapuerca site (Burgos, Spain), adapted to diet and paramastic demands (cultural habits) and compare them with modern populations.
Throughout human evolution, there has been a progressive simplification of the craniofacial system from our ancestors to the final adaptation of our species, Homo sapiens, characterized by a general gracility, reduction of the chewing apparatus, and a less complex dental morphology. However, the pace and how dental traits evolved to better adapt to dietary changes and withstand biomechanical strains remains unknown.
To understand how this adaptation occurred, the BITE project proposes to combine for the first time biological data (crown anatomy, enamel thickness and tooth wear) with medical imaging (Micro-Computed Tomography) and biomechanical engineering tools (3D simulation of the masticatory cycle) in addition to pre-existing data on the diet of hominins.
This research has also the collaboration of two other leading institutions in different fields of the study of human evolution: Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM).
