Museum’s collection allows research to continue
THE Covid19 lockdown could not stop a Dunedin scientist from undertaking an international study of primate teeth, thanks to access to the Otago Museum’s nonhuman primate collection.
Dr Ian Towle is the Sir Thomas Kay Sidey Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry.
His research examines the role of tooth shape and structure in respect of wear and fractures across many primate species to better understand how human teeth evolved.
Dr Towle, who grew up in Scotland, had planned to study primate teeth around the world.
He had studied in the United States and Japan early last year, but found his plans were suddenly changed by coronavirus travel restrictions.
An international collection of nonhuman primate skulls at the museum played a key role in helping him continue this work without leaving Dunedin.
Six of 15 nonhuman primate specimens found in New Zealand and studied by Dr Towle come from the museum.
His research aimed to uncover the drivers of human dental evolution and the development of tooth wear and dental disease, he said.
The diverse range of species found at the museum included orangutans and gorillas, and, along with human teeth from the Otago faculty, provided a ‘‘unique opportunity to study our own branch of the primate family tree, the great apes’’, he said.
To enable the structure of the teeth to be studied in microscopic detail, a single tooth from each skull was extracted by museum natural science curator Emma Burns.
The extractions were not easy but were successful, Ms Burns said.
It was important for international experts to work with the museum’s collections, including the museum’s about 70 specimens of nonhuman primates in the natural science collection.
Such initiatives enabled the museum to better understand its own holdings by applying new technology to historic collections.
The work ‘‘highlights the variety and scope of our collection’’ and it had been ‘‘great’’ to work with Dr Towle and the university, she said.
Dr Towle said it had been a pleasure to work with the museum.
The research had involved Dr Carolina Loch and Dr Towle, from the Sir John Walsh Research Institute, and international collaborators.