JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—According to a statement issued by University of the WitwatersrandGum disease and its possible effects on facial structure may have contributed to the evolution of modern humans. A team of researchers including Ugo Ripamonti of the University of the Witwatersrand, Laura Roden of Coventry University and Jacobus Hoffmann of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation analyzed 71 fossil jaws dating from 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago. Bone holds the teeth in the jaw, and so bone loss is a sign of periodontal disease. Team members observed crater-like lesions and defects on fossils of members of the genus HomosexualBut these lesions and defects were largely absent from Australopithecine fossils, Ripamonti said. He added, “We generally consider the disease to be completely devastating.” “But in this case, periodontal disease may have interacted with other biological changes in ways that contributed to the emergence of the human form.” To read more about recent research on human evolution, visit “path not taken“
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