Program Outline:

For more than a century, biologists have studied variation in the size and shape of teeth. We will investigate a recent example of how variation in the dentition led to the discovery of an episode of human adaptation to the Arctic during the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago.

Learning Objectives:

•The concept of pleiotropy in genetics refers to when one gene influences variation on more than one aspect of anatomy/physiology. Teeth are interrelated with a range of other ectodermally-derived anatomical traits because of pleiotropy.
•The dental variation that we see across human populations today is the result of tens of thousands of years of migration, intermixing, and evolution.
•Evolutionary biology is a rich source of new insight to human biology.

 Presenter Biography:

Dr. Hlusko is a European Research Council Advanced Grant Investigator at the Spanish National Center for Research on Human Evolution (Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, CENIEH), and a former professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California Berkeley. Her research combines the quantitative genetic analysis of craniodental variation with paleontology. She uses genetic analyses to redefine how we assess anatomical variation so that the measurement methods reflect the underlying genetic influences. Using the skeletal variation preserved in the fossil record, she then investigates how those genetic influences evolved over time. In addition to her genetic research conducted with the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas, she has co-directed paleontological field research in Kenya and Tanzania, and collaborated on field projects in Ethiopia, participating in some of the most famous discoveries of early human ancestors.

HOW DO I ATTEND THIS LIVE WEBINAR?

You must be a current member of the College of Diplomates.  The registration link can be found on the 'Webinars' page located under the 'Members only' tab. If you are an ABPD certified Diplomate and would like to join, please contact the COD Administration Office at info@cod-abpd.org or 858-272-6560.