Abstract
We interpret an unusual left M 3 attributed to Pongo from the Late Middle Pleistocene of Thailand to be an abnormal tooth rather than a supernumerary molar. Its peculiar morphology cannot be related to classical known causes that affect the dental germ: Gemination, schizodontia, synodontia. The ontogenic mechanism that might have led to the morphology of the tooth perhaps reflects stress related to a phase of marked climatic changes during the Late Middle Pleistocene in Southeast Asia.
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Tougard, C., Ducrocq, S. Abnormal Fossil Upper Molar of Pongo from Thailand: Quaternary Climatic Changes in Southeast Asia as a Possible Cause. International Journal of Primatology 20, 599–607 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020346908618
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020346908618