Growth Fields in the Dentition of the Gorilla

Correlation analysis is used to study growth fields in the dentition of G. gorilla. The ‘rule of neighborhoods’ was found to be valid although the ‘rule of proximal parts’ was found not to hold in most cases. It is suggested that the pole of a growth field is centered in the tooth with the highest mean correlation with the other teeth in its class which may or may not correspond to the tooth with the least variability.