Scientists find evidence of tooth-picking habit of earliest modern humans in East Asia

Photo taken on Sept. 7, 2022 shows fossil of a human tooth, dating back to 80,000 - 120,000 years ago, unearthed at Fuyan Cave, Dao county, central China's Hunan Province. (Photo: China News Service/Sun Zifa)

The earliest modern humans between 120,000 and 80,000 years ago ate plants and developed a tooth-picking habit, according to a group of Chinese researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The fossil shows obvious dental caries since the high intake of starch plants can lead to a certain degree of tooth decay.