Elucidating the evolution of the hominid dentition in the age of phenomics, modularity, and quantitative genetics

An organism’s anatomy is the results of millions of years of interplay between DNA sequence, developmental processes, the environment, and evolutionary forces. The anatomical sciences are consequently highly integrative and interdisciplinary. That said, reaching across all of the relevant disciplines can be a daunting task because scientific publications are produced today at an astounding rate. This manuscript brings together insights from the quantitative genetic analysis of dental variation into the study of human evolutionary odontology within the context of genomics, genetic modularity, and phenomics. I primarily advocate for the use of quantitative genetics to not only identify QTLs, but also to assess the patterns of genetic covariance that underlie phenotypic covariance, thereby enabling us to conceptualize phenotypic variation as a reflection of the underlying genetic mechanisms. By highlighting three phenotypes of importance within the study of human evolution (patterning of the dental arcade, enamel thickness, and taurodontism), I demonstrate how an integrated consideration of quantitative genetics, genomic analyses, and paleontology can bring us to more detailed hypotheses about the evolution of the hominid clade.