NONMETRIC DENTAL TRAIT CORRESPONDENCE IN THE STUCKLEN COLLECTION: INTRA-INDIVIDUAL CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE DECIDUOUS AND PERMANENT DENTITIONS

Abstract

A foundational assumption in dental anthropology is that the deciduous and permanent dentitions share an underlying developmental architecture, so that trait expression in one dentition should predict expression in the other within the same individual. Butler's morphogenetic field theory and the Patterning Cascade Model both generate specific, testable predictions about which trait pairs should show the strongest cross-dentition correspondence, and the quantitative genetic literature provides independent evidence of shared heritability across diphyodont homologues. The empirical literature directly testing within-individual correspondence is small and methodologically inconsistent, with most studies relying on incompatible scoring systems that make direct ordinal comparison analytically unfeasible. This study examines 22 deciduous-permanent trait pairs in 46 individuals from the Stucklen Collection, a longitudinal dental cast series from Wilmington, Delaware, using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System to score both dentitions. Three correlation methods are applied to each trait pair: Goodman-Kruskal's gamma, tetrachoric correlation, and Spearman's rank correlation. Cross-dentition correspondence is trait-specific and limited in overall extent. Four trait pairs produced robust signals on two or more tests: canine mesial ridge, Carabelli's cusp, hypocone, and incisor shoveling. The pattern of significant results partially confirms the predictions of field theory and the Patterning Cascade Model, with early-forming primary cusp complex traits outperforming late-forming accessory cusps. Methodological comparison across tests reveals that Spearman's rank correlation captures co-absence correspondence that gamma systematically excludes. These findings extend the cross-dentition correspondence literature to a third longitudinal North American collection and underscore the importance of unified scoring and multi-method assessment for evaluating the developmental integration of the human diphyodont dental complex.