Analytical description and comparison of profiles and sections of the skull by polynomial equations. Illustration of the procedure

Skull profiles and related sections may be worked in order to obtain the equation of the curve for best fitting. Polynomials of 6-7 nth degree give very high values of coefficient of determination. The technique is fully automatized and requires a TV-camera interfaced with a computer with specific hardware devices and software packages. Main routine gives coefficients of the equation, their standard deviation, standard errors, variance and covariance matrix. Accessory routines provide standardization of the position and apparent size of the image (skull or a photograph in a appropriate view) to work. General data on the fit of triplets of equations (total, frontal and facial of the anterior profile) are reported for Proconsul africanus, Australopithecus africanus (STS5, Plesianthropus transvaalensis), Australopithecus africanus (Taung I), Australopithecus Boisei (OH5, Zinjanthropus, rec. Tobias), Homo erectus (Pithecanthropus, rec. Weidenreich), Rhodesia man (Broken Hill I, E686), Homo S. neanderthalensis (Circeo I), Homo S. Sapiens (Grimaldi s.c. negroid, Grotta dei fanciulli VI, Predmost I, modern), Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Macaca rhesus.     

Hominid cranial remains from upper Pleistocene deposits at Aduma, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

The Upper Pleistocene localities of Aduma and Bouri have yielded hominid fossils and extensive Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeological assemblages. The vertebrate fossils recovered include parts of four hominid crania from Aduma and a complete right parietal from Bouri. Archaeological associations and radiometric techniques suggest an Upper Pleistocene age for these hominids. The more complete cranium from Aduma (ADU-VP-1/3) comprises most of the parietals, the occipital, and part of the frontal. This cranium is compared to late Middle and Upper Pleistocene hominid crania from Africa and the Middle East. The Aduma cranium shows a mosaic of cranial features shared with "premodern" and anatomically modern Homo sapiens. However, the posterior and lateral cranial dimensions, and most of its anatomy, are centered among modern humans and resemble specimens from Omo, Skhul, and Qafzeh. As a result, the Aduma and Bouri Upper Pleistocene hominids are assigned to anatomically modern Homo sapiens.     

Patterns of evolution in Middle Pleistocene hominids

This paper reviews the chronology and morphological variability of Middle Pleistocene H. erectus. specimens. Functional complexes are delineated within the skull and dentition, and their total morphological patterns quantified using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Statistical distances are calculated between H. erectus and other hominid samples for each complex, compared to illustrate patterns of mosaic evolution within the skull and dentition of middle Quaternary hominids, and estimated evolution rates are derived. An attempt is made to relate the observed morphological patterns to ecological shifts by early hominid communities, and to assess their significance for hominid taxonomy.     

CT reconstruction of the Glabellar bone

During systematic archaelogical excavations of the early medieval kingdom of Serbia, and adult male skull belonging to the skeleton of a Roman individual was unearthed at Babrež site in the Ras region. A supernumerary bone was found interposed between the frontal bones of the skull and the facial skeleton. Paleopathological investigation and CT reconstruction proved that this skull had been deformed during foetal development due to a disorder or disease affecting the mother. This probably led to the formation of the supernumerary Glabellar bone in the frontal region. This is the first case of Os Glabellae recorded so far.     

Patterning of geographic variation in Middle Pleistocene Homo frontal bone morphology

A quantitative assessment of the frontal bone morphology of a sample of Middle Pleistocene hominins was undertaken in order to address questions regarding their population structure and evolutionary history. Outline tracings of the frontal bones of forty-seven fossil crania were obtained, and size-standardized measurements were then computed using an Elliptical Fourier analysis of these tracings. Principal component scores of the Fourier harmonic amplitudes were derived and served as a quantitative representation of the morphology of the frontal bone. Morphological, geographical, and temporal distance matrices were then constructed between each pair of fossils. A partial Mantel matrix correlation test was performed between morphological and geographical distance matrices, controlling for temporal distance, in order to determine if the pattern of geographical differentiation in features of the frontal bone of mid-Pleistocene Homo followed that of an isolation-by-distance model of population structure. The results of the partial Mantel tests indicate that the overall patterning of differentiation in the features of the frontal bone cannot best be explained by a population structure shaped by isolation-by-distance. Additionally, various aspects of the frontal bone quantified here follow different patterns of geographical differentiation, suggesting that a mosaic pattern of evolution holds true for characters within one cranial region and not just for those between regions.     

Endocranial capacity of the bodo cranium determined from three-dimensional computed tomography

The 600,000-year-old cranium from Bodo, Ethiopia, is the oldest and most complete early Middle Pleistocene hominid skull from Africa. "Virtual endocast" models created by three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) techniques indicate an endocranial capacity of about 1,250 cc for this cranium (with a reasonable range between approximately 1,200-1,325 cc, depending on how missing portions of the basicranial region are reconstructed). From these determinations, several important implications emerge concerning current interpretations of "tempo and mode" in early hominid brain evolution: 1) already by the early Middle Pleistocene, at least one African hominid species, Homo heidelbergensis, had reached an endocranial capacity within the normal range of modern humans; 2) in spite of its large endocranial capacity, estimates of Bodo's encephalization quotient fall below those found in a large sample of Homo sapiens (both fossil and recent) and Neandertals; and 3) the greatest burst of brain expansion in the Homo lineage may not have been in the last several hundred thousand years, but rather much earlier in the Lower to early Middle Pleistocene.     

资阳人头骨化石的内部解剖结构

资阳人头骨化石,是新中国成立后首次发现的保存较为完整的人类化石,曾经引起学术界的广泛关注。由于其出土的具体位点和层位不是很清楚,对其年代目前还存有争议。长期以来,对资阳人的研究局限于传统的头骨外部形态的描述和测量。本文利用高分辨率工业CT（Computed tomography）扫描资阳人头骨,并对其内部解剖结构 (包括骨壁结构、额窦、骨内耳迷路、颞骨乳突小房、颅内模) 进行3D虚拟复原和研究,以期获得更多的形态信息。CT断层图显示资阳人头骨的骨壁板障层较厚,远大于外板层和内板层,支持以往研究认为的该头骨属于50岁以上个体的鉴定结果。额窦呈叶形,局限于两侧眼眶的内上方;左、右侧额窦的表面积分别为1780mm²和2910mm²。骨性内耳迷路半规管的大小及其比例,与尼安德特人不同,而位于晚更新世和全新世现代人变异范围之间。颞骨乳突小房为气化型,几乎占据了整个乳突部。根据复原的颅内模,资阳人的颅容量约为1250mL。颅内模的各项测量数值虽然都偏小,但脑的绝大多数形态特征、宽-高指数、顶叶-脑长指数都位于现代人的变异范围之内,而与直立人和更新世古老型人类不同。资阳人头骨内部解剖结构保留有少量原始特征,包括枕叶向后突显著、大脑窝比小脑窝大而深,这些特征不同于全新世人类,更类似于晚更新世早期现代人。     

Growth changes in measurements of upper facial positioning

Growth changes in the position of the midline upper face are examined for samples of Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla, and modern humans. Horizontal and vertical distances between nasion and the anterior end of the cribriform plate are plotted against stage of dental development. Kendall's nonparametric correlations between facial positioning and stage of dental development are tested for significance. In African apes, the upper face becomes more projecting and positioned higher relative to the anterior cranial base. The extent of this horizontal and vertical separation reflects primarily facial size. In modern humans, the upper face becomes more projecting but is relatively stable in its vertical position. Comparison of Pan and modern human crania in the youngest dental age category indicates that the upper face of modern humans is positioned lower early in postnatal life. The position of the upper face (glabella) relative to the anterior and posterior cranial base is presented for several fossil hominid crania. The fossil crania are similar to Pan and modern humans in facial projection relative to the anterior cranial base. However, glabella is positioned low in the fossil crania. Total facial projection (relative to hormion) for Sts 5 is similar to the mean for Gorilla. Fossil Homo and robust australopithecine crania display very projecting upper faces. We suggest that the upper face of Homo is projecting due to the length of the anterior cranial fossa, while robust australopithecines possess a thick frontal bone.     

A comparative study of frontal bone morphology among Pleistocene hominin fossil groups

Features of the frontal bone that are conventionally used to distinguish among fossil hominin groups were quantitatively examined. Fifty-five fossil crania dating from the early to the late Pleistocene were analyzed. Using a modified pantograph, outlines of the frontal bone were collected along the midsagittal and two parasagittal planes. The profile from nasion to bregma, as well as two profiles above the medial and lateral sections of the orbit, respectively, extending from the orbital margin to the coronal suture were traced. The outlines were measured using Elliptical Fourier Function Analysis (EFFA), which enabled a quantification of aspects of the frontal bone that have historically been described primarily in nonmetric or linear terms. Four measurements were obtained: 1) overall morphology as expressed in the Fourier harmonic amplitudes; 2) maximum projection of the supraorbital torus at three points along the browridge (glabella and the medial and lateral aspects of the torus above the orbit); 3) maximum distance of the frontal squama from the frontal chord, capturing forehead curvature; and 4) nasion-bregma chord length. The results indicate that the midsagittal profile is significantly different among all Pleistocene groups in analyses that include both size and shape, as well as size-adjusted data. Homo erectus is significantly different from the late Pleistocene groups (Neandertals and early modern H. sapiens) in glabellar projection. Anatomically modern humans are significantly different from all other groups in both raw and size-standardized analyses of all three outlines that captured overall morphology, as well as forehead curvature and lateral supraorbital torus prominence, and middle Pleistocene Homo are significantly different in both medial and lateral overall parasagittal form. However, for the majority of analyses there were no significant differences among the Pleistocene archaic groups in supraorbital torus projection, frontal squama curvature, nasion-bregma chord length, or overall frontal bone morphology.     

再论南京直立人高鼻梁的成因

本文以周口店、南京、Atapuerca SH5、Petralona、Arago、Bodo、Kabwe的中更新世人类化石举例显示,在类似的环境中鼻梁高耸的程度可以不同,不同凉热可以有相似高耸的鼻梁,从而对南京直立人的高鼻梁不是由于对寒冷气候的适应的论点提出补充论证。在这样的情况下,自然应该考虑南京直立人鼻梁高耸的原因在于遗传的因素。本文试图探讨南京高耸鼻梁可能的基因来源,首先论证在中国化石人类中罕见高耸的鼻梁,更没有比南京更早的高耸鼻梁,而非洲和欧洲中更新世多见高耸鼻梁,这种状态在欧洲延续至今,而且非洲已经发现60万年前的比南京早的高耸鼻梁。最后讨论南京直立人的时代和与非洲、欧洲相距遥远的地理位置都不能否定本文的推论。     

The Lake Ndutu cranium and early Homo sapiens in Africa

The partial cranium from Lake Ndutu, near Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania, has generally been viewed as Homo erectus, although points of similarity to H. sapiens have also been recognized. Bones of the vault are in fact quite thick, and the cranium is small. Length and breadth dimensions are comparable to those of earlier H. erectus from Koobi Fora and Ileret, and the Ndutu individual is more similar in size to O.H. 12 than to O.H. 9. Unfortunately, the facial skeleton and frontal bone are very incomplete, and little useful information can be obtained from these parts of the existing reconstruction. The parietals are also damaged, but the left temporal is more satisfactorily preserved, and the occiput is nearly complete. Occipital morphology, mastoid shape, and characteristics of the glenoid cavity and tympanic plate probably provide the best available guide to affinities of the Ndutu hominid. In many of these features the cranium resembles Broken Hill, Elandsfontein, and other African fossils referred to archaic H. sapiens. There are some similarities to modern humans also, but no ties to the Neanderthals of Europe. Allocation of Ndutu to an African subspecies of H. sapiens seems most appropriate, even if the pattern of relationships between such archaic populations and recent humans is still unclear.     

郧县人类头骨化石与周口店直立人头骨的形态比较

对郧县人类头骨化石与周口店直立人头骨作了形态上的比较以检验直立人特征在郧县头骨化石上的表现情况．比较项目包括眶上圆枕、枕骨圆枕、枕平面与项平面之间的转折情况、眶后收缩、颅骨最大宽位置、颅盖低平情况、前额后倾情况和颅容量．结果表明,在郧县人类头骨化石的这些特征项目中,有的因头骨破损和变形而难以肯定．其余的则应是早期智人的特征．从形态上讲,郧县人类头骨化石目前还难肯定是属于直立人,而有可能属于智人,如果认为“直立人”和“智人”是两个不同的物种的话．     

Brain expansion and rotation during hominid evolution

The question of how an endocast (or brain) is oriented within a skull that is positioned in the Frankfurt plane is investigated for African great apes, early hominids STS 71, KNM-ER 1813 and KNM-ER 1470, and modern humans using a 3SPACE digitizer. Our results suggest that, rather than being positioned in the orientation in which isolated brains (endocasts) are conventionally illustrated, brains within skulls that are oriented in the Frankfurt plane tend to be inclined so that the frontal pole is higher than the occipital pole, especially inHomo. These preliminary findings have implications for interpreting early hominid endocasts such as that of AL 162-28.     

Mapping connectivity damage in the case of Phineas Gage

White matter (WM) mapping of the human brain using neuroimaging techniques has gained considerable interest in the neuroscience community. Using diffusion weighted (DWI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), WM fiber pathways between brain regions may be systematically assessed to make inferences concerning their role in normal brain function, influence on behavior, as well as concerning the consequences of network-level brain damage. In this paper, we investigate the detailed connectomics in a noted example of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) which has proved important to and controversial in the history of neuroscience. We model the WM damage in the notable case of Phineas P. Gage, in whom a "tamping iron" was accidentally shot through his skull and brain, resulting in profound behavioral changes. The specific effects of this injury on Mr. Gage's WM connectivity have not previously been considered in detail. Using computed tomography (CT) image data of the Gage skull in conjunction with modern anatomical MRI and diffusion imaging data obtained in contemporary right handed male subjects (aged 25-36), we computationally simulate the passage of the iron through the skull on the basis of reported and observed skull fiducial landmarks and assess the extent of cortical gray matter (GM) and WM damage. Specifically, we find that while considerable damage was, indeed, localized to the left frontal cortex, the impact on measures of network connectedness between directly affected and other brain areas was profound, widespread, and a probable contributor to both the reported acute as well as long-term behavioral changes. Yet, while significantly affecting several likely network hubs, damage to Mr. Gage's WM network may not have been more severe than expected from that of a similarly sized "average" brain lesion. These results provide new insight into the remarkable brain injury experienced by this noteworthy patient.     

Pattern profile analysis of hominid and chimpanzee hand bones

In a study designed to complement morphological research on hominid hand bones, length and width measurements of the thumb, index, and middle rays were obtained from radiographs of modern human hands. These rays are primary in precision-gripping postures and are therefore the ones most relevant for investigating evolutionary changes in fine manipulation. Pattern profile analysis allows individuals or samples to be plotted against a reference sample in standard deviation units, or Z-scores. It provides an indication of how different measurements are from modern human averages, while taking into consideration the degree of variation present within modern human samples. A pattern profile for chimpanzees is clearly distinct from humans but quite similar to that of a bonobo, demonstrating the promise of pattern analysis. Partial pattern profiles of several of the more complete early hominid bones from Hadar, Swartkrans, and Olduvai (O.H. 7) are presented and compared. Hadar bones are long and wide at midshaft relative to articular widths; both body-size effects and functional differences are likely. Thumb distal phalanges from Swartkrans and Olduvai both have relatively small base widths, but they differ in other proportions. Two first metacarpals from Swartkrans show distinct patterns. The profiles of La Ferrassie I and Shanidar IV show the characteristically large Neanderthal distal phalanges. Profiles of Skhūl IV and P?edmost III are alike in some regions with reference to modern North American white males, though they are less similar overall than are those of the two Neanderthals. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Fourier analysis of facial profiles of young twins

Twins studies provide a powerful approach to determining the relative contribution of genetics and environment to observed variation. Such studies assume trait differences in monozygous (MZ) twins are due to environmental factors and those in dizygous (DZ) twins are due to both genetic and environmental factors. This study quantitated facial profiles of twins using Fourier equations, determining their value in profile analysis and the assessment of the genetic contribution to facial shape. Standardized profile slide photographs of 79 pairs of 4-6 year-old twins (37 MZ pairs, 42 DZ pairs) were scanned and x and y coordinates were extracted from each profile using sellion and Camper's plane as references. The coordinates were subjected to Fourier analysis and the normalised vertex projection coefficients were studied. The means of the differences between coefficients for MZ co-twins did not differ significantly from that of DZ co-twins, although the DZ group showed higher mean differences in the higher harmonics. Subjective examination of superimposed reconstructions showed wider variation between DZ co-twins than MZ co-twins. Correct classification of twins by discriminant function analysis using Fourier coefficients was similar for both groups (MZ: 70.3%; DZ: 73.8%). Fourier analysis could quantitate facial profiles of young children and differentiate some details, but was unable to discriminate between genetic and environmental influences, and any possible interactions between these influences, on their overall facial profiles at this developmental stage.     

A new hominid parietal from Bodo, Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia

A piece of left parietal of a Middle Pleistocene hominid, recovered from the Upper Bodo Sand Unit, in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia, is described anatomically and compared to Middle Pleistocene hominids and modern Homo sapiens. It bears several primitive features and has important implications for the original Bodo skull, found at the same stratigraphic level in the same area. The new fossil skull represents a different individual from the original Bodo skull.     

Landmark-based shape analysis of the archaic Homo calvarium from Ceprano (Italy)

The Ceprano calvarium represents one of the most important sources of information about both the dynamics of the earliest hominid dispersal toward Europe and the evolution of the genus Homo in the early-to-middle Pleistocene. In this paper, the midsagittal vault profile and the 3D frontal bone morphology of Ceprano are investigated comparatively, using landmark coordinates and Procrustes superimposition. In fact, despite the fact that the skull appears partially distorted by diagenetic pressures (thus precluding a comprehensive landmark-based analysis), some aspects of the overall morphology are suitable for consideration in terms of geometric morphometrics. The midsagittal profile shows an archaic shape, comparable with the H. ergaster/erectus range of variation because of the fronto-parietal flattening, the development of the supraorbital and nuchal structures, and the occurrence of a slightly larger occipital bone. By contrast, the frontal bone displays a derived 3D shape that, mostly because of the widening of the frontal squama, appears comparable with the Afro-European variation of the Middle Pleistocene (i.e., H. heidelbergensis/rhodesiensis). Taking into account the unique morphological pattern displayed by Ceprano, its role as a link between early Homo and the Middle Pleistocene populations of Europe and Africa is not falsified. Thus, when aspects of the Ceprano's morphology are described within the analytical framework provided by geometric morphometrics, the relationships between Ceprano and the subsequent Afro-European fossil record are emphasized, suggesting the occurrence of an ancestral stock of H. heidelbergensis/rhodesiensis that is properly represented by the Italian specimen.     

Homo erectus found still further west: Reconstruction of the Kocabaş cranium (Denizli,Turkey)

Few human fossils are known in Turkey and no Homo erectus has been discovered until now. In this respect, the newly discovered partial skull from Kocaba? is very important: (1) to assess the pattern of the first settlements throughout the Old World; and (2) to document the extension of the species H. erectus to the west of continental Asia. Using CT data and 3D imaging techniques, this specimen was reconstructed and a more detailed analysis was done, including the inner anatomical features. The preliminary results of this study highlight that the fossil hominid from Kocaba? is close to the H. erectus species regarding the following cranial patterns: presence of a clear post-orbital constriction, strong development of the frontal brow-ridge with a depressed supratoral area in the lateral part, as well as endocranial patterns such as the development and orientation of the middle meningeal artery and the presence of a frontal bec. The Kocaba? skull is morphologically very close to the fossils from Zhoukoudian L-C. The partial Kocaba? skull is the oldest H. erectus known in Turkey and the only one from this species to have settled so far west in Asia.