 Gary
T. Schwartz
Ph.D. Washington University, St. Louis, 1997
Assistant Professor
Dr. Schwartz has interests in the evolutionary history of primate growth
and development as evidenced from developing tooth tissues. Teeth grow
in an incremental manner, like trees and shells, preserving a record of
their growth in the form of daily lines. The rate at which teeth grow
is very closely linked to all kinds of important biological variables
such as brain size, gestation length, longevity, etc. Recently, Dr. Schwartz
has been studying how using information on the time and timing of dental
development can help us understand the evolutionary history of the extended
growth period so unique to modern humans. Current work using the incremental
structures in teeth is also addressing fundamental questions related to
the developmental bases of canine sexual dimorphism during primate evolution
and the role dental development plays in life history evolution.
His work bridges the gap between comparative anatomy/morphology and evolutionary
developmental biology. In conjunction with new discoveries in genetics
and developmental biology, the type of information produced in his lab
provides an exciting way of exploring the mechanisms that underlie morphological
change during evolution. The techniques routinely used in his lab involve
the preparation of histological thin sections of modern and fossil teeth
for polarized light microscopy and laser confocal microscopy. Additionally,
scanning electron microscopy and computed tomography are used to examine
non-invasively the internal structures of fossil teeth.
In addition to labwork, Dr. Schwartz goes to the field to collect original
fossil hominid material. He is one of several co-directors of the Paleoanthropology
Field School in Makapansgat, South Africa (http://www.asu.edu/clas/iho/field.htm)
run jointly between Arizona State University and the University
of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Selected Publications
Schwartz GT, Jungers WL, Samonds KE, Godfrey LR and Simons EL
(2002). Dental microstructure and life history in subfossil Malagasy lemurs.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99, 6124-6129.
(PDF 363k)
Dean MC, Leakey MG, Reid D, Schrenk F, Schwartz GT, Stringer C
& Walker AC. (2001) Growth processes in teeth distinguish modern humans
from Homo erectus and earlier hominins. Nature 414,
628-631. (PDF
201k)
Schwartz GT & Dean MC (2001). The ontogeny of canine dimorphism
in extant hominoids. American Journal of Physical Anthropology
115, 269-283. (PDF
262k)
Schwartz GT (2000a). Taxonomic and functional aspects of the patterning
of enamel thickness distribution in extant large-bodied hominoids. American
Journal of Physical Anthropology 111, 221-244. (PDF
264k)
Schwartz GT (2000b). Enamel thickness and the helicoidal wear
plane in modern human mandibular molars. Archives of Oral Biology
45, 401-409. (PDF
692k)
Schwartz, GT and Dean, MC (2000). Interpreting the hominid dentition:
Ontogenetic and phylogenetic aspects. In "Higgins P, Cohen M, editors.
Development, Growth and Evolution: Implications for the Study of Hominid
Skeleton. London: Academic Press. pp. 207-233.
Schwartz GT, Reid DJ, Dean MC and Chandrasekera MS (2000). Aspects
of tooth crown development in common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
with a note on the possible role of sexual dimorphism in canine growth.
Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Dental Morphology.
pp. 323-337.
Reid DJ, Schwartz GT, Chandrasekera MS, and Dean
MC (1998). A histological reconstruction of dental development in the
common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes. Journal of Human Evolution
35, 427-448. (PDF 268K)
Schwartz GT, Thackeray JF, Reid C and van Reenan JF (1998). Enamel
thickness and the topography of the enamel-dentine junction in South African
Plio-Pleistocene hominids with special reference to the Carabelli trait.
Journal of Human Evolution 35, 523-542. (PDF
236k)
Schwartz GT (1997).
Re-evaluation of the Plio-Pleistocene Hyraxes (Mammalia: Procaviidae)
from South Africa. Neues Jarbuch fr Geologie und Paleontologie, Abhandlungen.
206, 365-383.
Schwartz GT and Kuykendall KL (1996). Enamel Structure and Development.
Evolutionary Anthropology 5, 150-151.
Schwartz GT and Conroy GC (1996). Cross-sectional geometric properties
of the Otavipithecus mandible. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 99, 613-623.
Schwartz GT, Rasmussen DT, and Smith RJ (1995). Body-size diversity
& community structure of fossil hyracoids. Journal of Mammalogy
76, 1088-1099.
Contact Information:
Dr. Gary T. Schwartz
Department of Anthropology
Stevens Building 102
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
Voice: 815-753-5669
Fax: 815-753-7027
Email: garys@niu.edu
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