Frederick Grine
Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Witwatersrand
(South Africa), 1984

frederick.grine@stonybrook.edu

Early hominid evolution, tooth enamel structure, systematics

Dr. Grine's research interests focus on early hominid evolution and the structure of tooth enamel. The scope of his research on the former includes the reconstruction of early hominid dietary habits from the analysis of dental microwear, and the phylogenetic relationships among species of Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo as deduced from fossil skulls and teeth. Of particular interest has been the evolutionary history of the so-called "robust" australopithecines-members of the genus Paranthropus that flourished in Africa between about 2.5 and 1.2 million years ago. As part of his work on early hominid evolution, Dr. Grine is currently undertaking field research for additional paleontological sites of Pliocene and early Pleistocene age in southern Africa.

Dr. Grine's research work on tooth enamel concentrates on the evolutionary origin and possible adaptive significance of the prismatic structure that characterizes mammalian enamel, the potential of various structural types of elucidating taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships among extant and extinct mammals, and the possible adaptive significance of enamel thickness and structure among primates with different dietary habits.

Recent Publications:

Grine, F. E. and Vrba, E. S. (1980) Prismatic enamel: A preadaptation for mammalian diphyodonty? S. Afr. J. Sci. 76:139 - 141.

Grine, F. E. (1981) Trophic differences between 'gracile' and 'robust' australopithecines: A scanning electron microscope analysis of occlusal events. S. Afr. J. Sci. 77:203 - 230.

Grine, F. E., Krause, D. W., Fosse, G., and Jungers, W. L. (1987) Analysis of individual, intraspecific, and interspecific variability in quantitative parameters of caprine tooth enamel structure. Acta Odont. Scand. 45:1 - 23.

Grine, F. E. and Kay, R. F. (1988) Early hominid diets from quantitative image and analysis of dental microwear. Nature 333:765 - 768.

Grine, F. E., ed. (1988) Evolutionary History of the 'Robust' Australopithecines. Aldine de Gruyter, New York.

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