Thanks to Loren Cordain for his very interesting discussion of plant and
meat intakes, and the evidence for increased use of animal food by humans
in evolutionary history.  The survey he did in the Ethnographic Atlas is
revealing.  Loren, I hope you are planning a publication.

>
> I'm finding the current discussion about teeth fascinating.  I would like
> to ask Clark Larsen if there is any evidence of genetically determined
> differences in tooth and jaw structure from one human population to
> another.  Specifically, is there evidence that one population was evolving
> on more meat and less plant matter versus another?   Do the Eskimos have
> different teeth/jaws to the !Kung bushmen?
>

        Clearly, there is some genetic basis for tooth and jaw size and
structure, but this is very poorly known.  Tooth size probably has a
greater genetic basis than bone size, but regardless, both have a
signficant environmental influence.  There are differences in some aspects
of morphology in teeth between Eskimos and !Kung San, but the overall
pattern of morphology similar.  Eskimos have larger teeth than !Kung San,
and this likely reflects differences in diet.  The presence of
shovel-shaped incisors in Asian and Asian-descent populations (e.g.,
Native Americans) perhaps reflects different dietary histories, and at
least in part is associated with large anterior teeth (incisors).  An
excellent overview of morphological differences seen in modern humans is:

Scott, G. Richard, and Christy G. Turner II (1997) The Anthropology of
Modern Human Teeth: Dental Morphology and Its Variation in Recent Human
Populations.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

An important source dealing with tooth size:

Kieser, J.A. (1991) Human Adult Odontometrics.  Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

A number of papers presented on tooth size, morphology, and tooth use and
adaptation are presented in an edited volume:

Kelley, Marc A., and Clark Spencer Larsen (eds.) (1991) Advances in Dental
Anthropology.  New York: Wiley-Liss.