Neurocranium versus Face: A Morphometric Approach with Classical Anthropometric Variables for Characterizing Patterns of Cranial Integration in Extant Hominoids and Extinct Hominins

The relative importance of the two main cranial complexes, the neurocranium and the splanchnocranium, has been examined in the five species of extant hominoids and in a huge sample of extinct hominins using six standard craniometric variables that measure the length, width and height of each cranial...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2015-07, Vol.10 (7), p.e0131055-e0131055
Main Authors: Pérez-Claros, Juan Antonio, Jiménez-Arenas, Juan Manuel, Palmqvist, Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anthropometry
Biological Evolution
Body measurements
Evolution
Extinction
Face - anatomy & histology
Factor analysis
Female
Fossils
Gorilla gorilla - anatomy & histology
Hominids
Homo floresiensis
Humans
Hypotheses
Integration
Male
Modules
Morphology
Pan paniscus - anatomy & histology
Pan troglodytes - anatomy & histology
Pongo pygmaeus - anatomy & histology
Principal components analysis
Skull
Skull - anatomy & histology
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Summary:The relative importance of the two main cranial complexes, the neurocranium and the splanchnocranium, has been examined in the five species of extant hominoids and in a huge sample of extinct hominins using six standard craniometric variables that measure the length, width and height of each cranial module. Factor analysis and two-block partial least squares were used for establishing the major patterns of developmental and evolutionary integration between both cranial modules. The results obtained show that all extant hominoids (including the anatomically modern humans) share a conserved pattern of developmental integration, a result that agrees with previous studies. The pattern of evolutionary integration between both cranial modules in australopiths runs in parallel to developmental integration. In contrast, the pattern of evolutionary and developmental integration of the species of the genus Homo is the opposite, which is probably the consequence of distinctive selective regimes for both hominin groups.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0131055