An ancient hominin living about 1.8 million years ago in Dmanisi, Georgia, survived for years after losing all of its teeth except one. Discovered in 2005, the fossil known as D3444/D3900 challenges assumptions about early human capabilities, though a later discovery of a toothless bonobo named Sting complicates theories regarding prehistoric social cooperation.
The Dmanisi Skull With Only One Tooth
Dmanisi holds an exceptional place in human evolutionary history. Field sites dated between 1.85 and 1.77 million years ago have yielded some of the oldest and most complete hominin fossils found outside of Africa. Researchers usually link these specimens to Homo erectus, though their exact classification sparks ongoing scientific debate. In 2005, David Lordkipanidze and his colleagues published a description of a remarkably preserved cranium and mandible in Nature. This adult specimen had lost every tooth except a single one. It wasn’t a recent loss either. The jawbone showed extensive bone remodeling and the complete reabsorption of empty tooth sockets. That biological process takes a long time, confirming the individual lived for years without a functional set of teeth.
Soft Tissue Diets and the Limits of Fossil Evidence
How an ancient hominin survived without teeth remains a profound mystery for anthropologists. Excavations at Dmanisi have uncovered stone tools and animal bones bearing marks of carcass processing. These artifacts prove that meat was part of their daily subsistence strategy. Yet, tearing and chewing tough resources would pose a serious challenge for a toothless mouth. Researchers suggested the individual survived on soft vegetation and tender animal tissues. Bone marrow and brains provide heavy nutritional value without requiring heavy dental grinding. Even so, the fossil record cannot preserve the exact menu of a single prehistoric meal. Scientists know the individual lost its teeth and lived for years afterward, but the specific food sources remain entirely unknown.
The Bonobo Comparison That Challenged Early Cooperation Theories
Initial studies of the Dmanisi skull suggested that surviving such a severe physical handicap required deliberate group assistance. Researchers in 2005 proposed that peers must have shared pre-processed food, offering a rare prehistoric window into early human altruism. That interpretation shifted fifteen years later due to observations of a living relative. In 2020, primatologist Martin Surbeck published a study in the Journal of Human Evolution detailing Sting, a wild bonobo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve. Sting survived for a long time after losing all his teeth without relying on specially softened foods or receiving food handouts from his troop. He simply found his own ways to forage. Surbeck noted that this observation questioned previous assumptions about the prosocial behavior of early humans inferred entirely from toothless fossils. The skeleton from Dmanisi cannot prove whether group members shared food or if the hominin was exceptionally skilled at finding soft calories independently. The biological scar remains, but the exact social dynamics vanished nearly two million years ago.
