Origini, forma e (dis)funzioni dell’apparato masticatorio in Homo sapiens

Abstract

The anatomical-functional structure with which human beings are equipped today has its roots in our evolutionary history: knowing the latter helps us understand why our body looks like this and functions in this way. Every living being, including Homo sapiens, is the result of a progressive stratification of forms that have adapted to environmental pressures which have shaped their morphology from deep time until today. Our masticatory apparatus (evolutionarily very recent) began to develop with the advent of mammals around 250 million years ago, structuring itself with a unique morphology and function, closely linked to the upright posture typical of the Homo genus and to globular encephalisation, a characterizing peculiarity Homo sapiens.