Evolutionary scientists from Australia recently published an academic paper claiming that the use of tools has given way to human teeth shrinkage.
According to these researchers, early hominin species relied on their teeth to perform multiple tasks. Their teeth were not only the hardest part of their body but they were arguably at least two to four times larger than modern counterparts.
The scientists led by biologist Alistair Evans have since looked into the size of modern human teeth in comparison with available hominin fossils. Based on their findings, Australopiths and other early hominins tended to have bigger teeth towards the back of their mouths. They explain that this is mainly because of the advanced tool use in more advanced Homo species.
"It's always been presumed that sometime in early Homo, we started using more advanced tools," explained Evans.
"Tool use meant we didn't need as big teeth and jaws as earlier hominins. This may then have increased evolutionary pressure to spend less energy developing teeth, making our teeth smaller"
