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Overview of the Skull

Overview of the Skull

The cranium (skull) is the skeletal structure of the head that supports the face and protects the brain. It is subdivided into the facial bones and the brain case, or cranial vault. The facial bones underlie the facial structures, form the nasal cavity, enclose the eyeballs, and support the teeth of the upper and lower jaws.
The cranial vault surrounds and protects the brain and houses the middle and inner ear structures. This cavity is bounded superiorly by the rounded top of the skull, which...

Cranial Bones: Superior and Posterior View

Cranial Bones: Superior and Posterior View

The superior view of the cranium shows the frontal and paired parietal bones.
The frontal bone is the single bone that forms the forehead. At its anterior midline, between the eyebrows, there is a slight depression called the glabella. The frontal bone also forms the supraorbital margin of the orbit. Near the middle of this margin is the supraorbital foramen, the opening that provides passage for a sensory nerve to the forehead. The frontal bone is thickened just above each supraorbital margin,...

Synteny and Evolution

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...

Cranial Bones: Lateral View

Cranial Bones: Lateral View

The lateral view of the cranium is dominated by temporal, sphenoid, and ethmoid bones.
The temporal bone forms the lower lateral side of the skull. The temporal bone is subdivided into several regions. The flattened upper portion is the squamous portion of the temporal bone. Below this area and projecting anteriorly is the zygomatic process of the temporal bone, which forms the posterior portion of the zygomatic arch. Posteriorly is the mastoid portion of the temporal bone. Projecting...

Diversity of Protists IV

Diversity of Protists IV

Amoebozoa represent a diverse group of terrestrial and aquatic protists that utilize lobe-shaped pseudopodia for locomotion and feeding. This characteristic differentiates them from the Rhizaria, which possess threadlike pseudopodia. The primary classifications within Amoebozoa include gymnamoebas, entamoebas, and the plasmodial and cellular slime molds. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that Amoebozoa diverged from a lineage that ultimately gave rise to fungi and animals.Gymnamoebas and...

Diversity of Protists III

Diversity of Protists III

Rhizaria are a diverse group of unicellular protists characterized by their threadlike cytoplasmic extensions known as pseudopodia. These structures aid in both locomotion and feeding, giving Rhizaria an amoeboid appearance. Their amoeboid morphology once led to taxonomic confusion, but molecular phylogenetics has clarified their evolutionary placement and emphasized their shared use of pseudopodia despite divergent lineages.This clade comprises diverse lineages such as Chlorarachniophyta,...

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Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Published on: January 7, 2019

Primate cranial diversity.

John G Fleagle¹, Christopher C Gilbert, Andrea L Baden

¹Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8081, USA. jfleagle@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

|February 27, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study quantifies primate cranial diversity using 3D morphometrics. Anthropoids exhibit greater cranial shape variation than prosimians, with hominoids showing the most diversity, notably in Homo sapiens.

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Area of Science:

Primate evolution
Comparative anatomy
Geometric morphometrics

Background:

Cranial morphology is key to understanding primate evolution, but broad analyses of diversity across the order are lacking.
Previous research has focused on specific aspects, leaving a gap in comprehensive cranial shape variation studies.

Purpose of the Study:

To conduct a 3D geometric morphometric analysis of primate cranial morphology.
To compare major patterns of cranial shape change and assess cranial diversity among primate clades.

Main Methods:

Digitized 18 landmarks on crania from 66 primate genera.
Applied Generalized Procrustes Analysis and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to landmark data.
Quantified cranial diversity using multivariate variance measurements.

Main Results:

PCA axis 1 separates strepsirrhines from anthropoids, reflecting cranial flexion, orbit characteristics, and neurocranial volume.
PCA axis 2 differentiates anthropoids based on cranial height and snout length.
Anthropoids, catarrhines, and haplorhines display higher cranial diversity than prosimians and strepsirrhines.

Conclusions:

Hominoids exhibit the highest cranial shape variance among extant primate clades.
The unique cranium of Homo sapiens significantly contributes to hominoid cranial diversity.
This study provides a quantitative framework for understanding primate cranial evolution and diversity.