The Neanderthals are now known from several hundred individuals, represented by remains varying from isolated teeth to virtually complete skeletons.
Dr Jerry Hooker, a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, said: "Most mammal fossils, including those of primates, are fragmentary, usually consisting of isolated teeth or jaws, sometimes also other skeletal elements, and we have learned a lot from these.
Tyrannosaurus is known from a variety of locations in the west of the US and Canada with some isolated teeth and bones from Mexico also suggested to belong to this genus hinting at a large north-south range.
Fossils from later Middle Paleolithic layers include several isolated teeth and a woman's skeleton found buried along the side of the cave.
Most of the remains are in the form of isolated teeth and fragmentary jaws, but one remarkably complete skull from 2.5 mya (the "Black Skull") was recovered from West Turkana.
Some isolated teeth and jaws look more primitive while others look more derived.
It is known only from isolated teeth and a few lower jaws with reduced front teeth and enlarged molars and premolars.
A great challenge arises when sex determination of human remains is needed, especially when only, bone fragments or isolated teeth are available; such as in mass disasters.
Excavations carried out since 1991 at the open-air site of Dmanissi, Georgia, have yielded four craniums, three mandibles, about 15 postcranial remains and a dozen isolated teeth.
Other researchers grumble that by describing the history of anthropoids as "somewhat speculatively identified lineages of isolated teeth," the PLoS paper dismisses years of new fossils.
Indraloris is known from isolated teeth and fragmentary lower jaws.
