News Anthropology

Fossil teeth flesh out ancient kids’ varied growth rates

X-ray technique sheds light on hominid development

Paranthropus robustus jaw and teeth

AGING DOWN  A Paranthropus robustus child, represented by this jaw and teeth, died at age 3.1, according to new evidence. The child was several months younger at death than previously estimated. P. robustus lived in what’s now South Africa between 2 million and 1.5 million years ago.

Tanya Smith

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Kids who belonged to now-extinct species in the human evolutionary family grew at unexpected rates, unlike the growth of either present-day people or apes, a new study of their teeth finds.