DOCSLIB.ORG

Hominin Endocast Topography: an Analysis Using Geographic Information Systems

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Hominin Endocast Topography: an Analysis Using Geographic Information Systems HOMININ ENDOCAST TOPOGRAPHY: AN ANALYSIS USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS by Melissa Boas A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida December 2012 Copyright by Melissa Boas 2012 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank everyone that assisted me in the writing of my Masters thesis. That includes everyone that contributed to the selection of my research topic, the research process, the writing, the data analysis, and the revision. I would like to first thank my advisor, Dr. Douglas Broadfield for directing me to such an interesting choice of methodology. I would also like to thank Dr. Ralph Holloway for letting me use his collection and for providing his insight on the topic. My other thesis committee members, Dr. Clifford Brown and Dr. Kate Detwiler, deserve thanks for their helpful critique of both my methodology and my writing. Dr. Charles Roberts and Professor James Gammack-Clark were excellent resources for my GIS questions. Dr. Delson graciously allowed me to use his 3D laser scanner and Claudia Astorino and the other NYCEP students taught me how to use it; I cannot thank them enough. Last, but not least, my friends and family provided me with the support needed to complete this research. Thank you Kendra Philmon and Brittany Burdelsky for being my writing partners. iv ABSTRACT Author: Melissa Boas Title: Hominin Endocast Topography: An Analysis Using Geographic Information Systems Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Douglas Broadfield Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2012 This study examined the topography of prefrontal molds of human endocasts using three-dimensional laser scanning and geographic information systems (GIS) in order to carry out intra-species comparisons. Overall brain topography can indicate when major reorganizational shifts in brain structure happened in our evolutionary history and these shifts may indicate major shifts in cognition and behavior. Endocasts are one of the sole sources of information about extinct hominin brains; they reproduce details of the brain’s external morphology. Analysis of endocast morphology has never been done using GIS methodology. The use of GIS helps to overcome previous obstacles in regards to endocast analysis. Since this methodology is new, this research focuses on only one species, Homo sapiens and the area of focus is narrowed to the frontal lobe, specifically Broca’s cap. This area is associated with speech in humans and is therefore of evolutionary significance. The variability in lateralization of this feature was quantified. v HOMININ ENDOCAST TOPOGRAPHY: AN ANALYSIS USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS TABLES ........................................................................................................................... vii FIGURES......................................................................................................................... viii I. BRAIN EVOLUTION..................................................................................................... 1 II. PREVIOUS METHODS.............................................................................................. 12 III. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)................................................. 18 IV. FRONTAL LOBE ...................................................................................................... 22 V. METHODS .................................................................................................................. 25 VI. RESULTS................................................................................................................... 29 VII. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS..................................................................... 41 APPENDIX A................................................................................................................... 43 APPENDIX B................................................................................................................... 46 LITERATURE CITED ..................................................................................................... 57 vi TABLES Table 1. Area and slope measurements ............................................................................ 30 Table 2. Left and right hemispheric area for Broca's cap ................................................. 31 Table 3. Left and right minimum slope values for Broca's cap ........................................ 32 Table 4. Left and right maximum slope values for Broca's cap ....................................... 33 Table 5. Left and right slope range values for Broca's cap................................................34 Table 6. Left and right mean slope values for Broca's cap................................................34 Table 7. Left and right slope standard deviations for Broca's cap.....................................35 vii FIGURES Figure 1. Paired t-test for left and right hemispheric area of Broca's cap......................... 36 Figure 2. Paired t-test for left and right minimum slope values for Broca's cap .............. 37 Figure 3. Paired t-test for left and right maximum slope values for Broca's cap.............. 38 Figure 4. Paired t-test for left and right slope range values for Broca's cap..................... 39 Figure 5. Paired t-test for left and right mean slope values for Broca's cap ..................... 40 Figure 6. Scan Studio scan screen with settings ............................................................... 43 Figure 7. Scan Studio screen showing the trim, align, and fuse selections ...................... 44 Figure 8. Excel sheet with xyz data points ....................................................................... 46 Figure 9. ArcMap screen showing the add data button .................................................... 47 Figure 10. ArcMap screen showing the display xy data option........................................ 47 Figure 11. Display xy data menu showing appropriate settings ....................................... 48 Figure 12. Export data dialogue box with appropriate settings displayed........................ 49 Figure 13. IDW dialogue box with correct specifications ................................................ 50 Figure 14. Screen showing how to deselect original data points and copy a layer .......... 51 Figure 15. ArcMap screen displaying hillshading ............................................................ 52 Figure 16. Slope dialogue box with correct specifications............................................... 53 Figure 17. New Shapefile dialogue box with correct specifications ................................ 54 Figure 18. ArcMap screen displaying Broca's cap layer .................................................. 55 Figure 19. Zonal Statistics as Table dialogue box with correct specifications................. 56 viii I. BRAIN EVOLUTION Advanced cognitive abilities are a defining characteristic of our species, Homo sapiens. However, discrete and tangible traits are often used to define human beings in order to set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom and cognition is something that is too broad and vague. Some traits that are commonly discussed are bipedality, tool- making, and burial of the dead. Where as we are unique, at least in the primate order, in the form of locomotion we employ, this trait does not seem to address what really sets us apart. The hominin ability to create and use complex tools was long used as a metaphor for our advanced intelligence (Henshilwood et al., 2001; Klein, 2009; McNabb et al., 2004). This metaphor, however, lost some of its power when it came to light that other species are capable of tool production. Burial of the dead is also used as a marker of our advanced cognition (Belfer-Cohen & Hovers, 1992; Gargett et al., 1989; Hayden, 1993; Hovers et al., 2000; Noble, 1993; Rak et al., 1994). This human trait is used as a metaphor to show our advanced emotional state and capacity for symbolic knowledge. However, it has been shown that elephants also have death rituals, so this cannot truly be seen as a defining characteristic of our species and lineage (Bradshaw, 2004; Moss, 1992; Poole, 1996). These three traits have something else in common. They are all relatively easily recognized in the fossil and archeological record. The positioning of the foreman magnum and other morphological characteristics are indicative of bipedalism. Stone tools 1 found in association with fossil hominins indicate an early ability to create tools. Intentional burial sites, sometimes with grave goods, indicate burial practices. However, since brains do not fossilize, it is hard to track the evolution of the brain and cognition, so we are forced to extrapolate from evidence in the fossil and archaeological record. Certain findings like stone tools and intentional burials have behavioral implications; however, there are other ways to study the evolution of human cognition and behavior. Both paleoneurology and comparative studies can shed light on the topic. Brain evolutionary studies can be loosely broken down into two methodological types. The first involves comparative neuroanatomical studies of extant species and the second involves paleoneurology, the study of brain evolution through the use of the fossil record. The former is considered an indirect method whereas the latter is considered a direct method. Comparative work can be done
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Beyond Endocasts: Using Predicted Brain-Structure Volumes of Extinct Birds to Assess Neuroanatomical and Behavioral Inferences
    diversity Article Beyond Endocasts: Using Predicted Brain-Structure Volumes of Extinct Birds to Assess Neuroanatomical and Behavioral Inferences 1, , 2 2 Catherine M. Early * y , Ryan C. Ridgely and Lawrence M. Witmer 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA 2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA; [email protected] (R.C.R.); [email protected] (L.M.W.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Current Address: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. y Received: 1 November 2019; Accepted: 30 December 2019; Published: 17 January 2020 Abstract: The shape of the brain influences skull morphology in birds, and both traits are driven by phylogenetic and functional constraints. Studies on avian cranial and neuroanatomical evolution are strengthened by data on extinct birds, but complete, 3D-preserved vertebrate brains are not known from the fossil record, so brain endocasts often serve as proxies. Recent work on extant birds shows that the Wulst and optic lobe faithfully represent the size of their underlying brain structures, both of which are involved in avian visual pathways. The endocasts of seven extinct birds were generated from microCT scans of their skulls to add to an existing sample of endocasts of extant birds, and the surface areas of their Wulsts and optic lobes were measured. A phylogenetic prediction method based on Bayesian inference was used to calculate the volumes of the brain structures of these extinct birds based on the surface areas of their overlying endocast structures. This analysis resulted in hyperpallium volumes of five of these extinct birds and optic tectum volumes of all seven extinct birds.
    [Show full text]
  • EDITORIAL NOTE Collection of Paleontology Papers in Honor of The
    Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (2019) 91(Suppl. 2): e20191434 (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences) Printed version ISSN 0001-3765 / Online version ISSN 1678-2690 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201920191434 www.scielo.br/aabc | www.fb.com/aabcjournal EDITORIAL NOTE Collection of Paleontology Papers in honor of the Centenary of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences ALEXANDER W.A. KELLNER* and MARINA B. SOARES Laboratório de Sistemática e Tafonomia de Vertebrados Fósseis, Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia do Museu Nacional/UFRJ, Quinta da Boa Vista, s/n, São Cristóvão, 20940-040 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil How to cite: KELLNER AWA AND SOARES MB. 2019. Collection of Paleontology Papers in honor of the Centenary of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. An Acad Bras Cienc 91: e20191434. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765201920191434. The Brazilian Academy of Sciences is a non-profit organization (ABC 2019) that has completed one century of existence in 2016. A series of special publications was organized by the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (AABC) in celebration of this important date (e.g., Kellner 2017, Crespilho 2018, Cavaleiro 2018). Here we have the pleasure to introduce the final of these volumes gathering 20 original contributions in paleontology, the science dedicated to the study of all evidences of life that have been preserved in layers of deep time. The topics presented here vary from the description of new species and specimens of flying reptiles, dinosaurs, and crocodylomorphs to studies on biogeography, osteohistology, and specific contributions provided by microfossils. Over 70 authors from different countries were involved in this volume, showing the increasing international integration of Brazilian paleontologists.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Paleontology of Animal Cognition: Using the Brain Dimensions of Modern Birds to Characterize Maniraptor Cognition
    12 Journal of Advanced Neuroscience Research, Special Issue, May-2017, 12-19 On the Paleontology of Animal Cognition: Using the Brain Dimensions of Modern Birds to Characterize Maniraptor Cognition Thomas M. Gaetano1, Margaret M. Yacobucci1 and Verner P. Bingman2,* 1Department of Geology, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA 2Department of Psychology and J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, USA Abstract: Drawing inferences on the characteristics, including behavior, of extinct species using comparisons with extant species has a long tradition in paleontology. Departing from the observation that extinct maniraptors possessed brains with a relatively long and narrow telencephalon, we used digital endocasts taken from 11 species of modern birds to determine if any of the sampled modern bird species displayed a similar telencephalic shape, and by inference, similar cognitive ability. The analysis revealed that the telencephalon of the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is extraordinarily narrow (large length-to-width ratio) and strikingly similar to Archaeopteryx and even some non-avian, maniraptoran dinosaurs. The relatively narrow brain in turn suggests a relatively small nidopallium subdivision of the telencephalon and associated impoverished general cognitive ability. This first-order brain-anatomical observation, together with the relatively ancient origins of a cormorant fossil record, suggest that cormorants could be used as a model for the general cognitive abilities of extinct maniraptors. Keywords: Brain endocasts, Comparative cognition, Double-crested cormorant, Hippocampus, Nidopallium, Paleoneurology. INTRODUCTION animal cognition, observations and experimental evidence from birds have also offered some extraordi- Considerations of the richness of animal cognitive nary examples of cognition [3].
    [Show full text]
  • Homo Erectus: a Bigger, Faster, Smarter, Longer Lasting Hominin Lineage
    Homo erectus: A Bigger, Faster, Smarter, Longer Lasting Hominin Lineage Charles J. Vella, PhD August, 2019 Acknowledgements Many drawings by Kathryn Cruz-Uribe in Human Career, by R. Klein Many graphics from multiple journal articles (i.e. Nature, Science, PNAS) Ray Troll • Hominin evolution from 3.0 to 1.5 Ma. (Species) • Currently known species temporal ranges for Pa, Paranthropus aethiopicus; Pb, P. boisei; Pr, P. robustus; A afr, Australopithecus africanus; Ag, A. garhi; As, A. sediba; H sp., early Homo >2.1 million years ago (Ma); 1470 group and 1813 group representing a new interpretation of the traditionally recognized H. habilis and H. rudolfensis; and He, H. erectus. He (D) indicates H. erectus from Dmanisi. • (Behavior) Icons indicate from the bottom the • first appearance of stone tools (the Oldowan technology) at ~2.6 Ma, • the dispersal of Homo to Eurasia at ~1.85 Ma, • and the appearance of the Acheulean technology at ~1.76 Ma. • The number of contemporaneous hominin taxa during this period reflects different Susan C. Antón, Richard Potts, Leslie C. Aiello, 2014 strategies of adaptation to habitat variability. Origins of Homo: Summary of shifts in Homo Early Homo appears in the record by 2.3 Ma. By 2.0 Ma at least two facial morphs of early Homo (1813 group and 1470 group) representing two different adaptations are present. And possibly 3 others as well (Ledi-Geraru, Uraha-501, KNM-ER 62000) The 1813 group survives until at least 1.44 Ma. Early Homo erectus represents a third more derived morph and one that is of slightly larger brain and body size but somewhat smaller tooth size.
    [Show full text]
  • 1000002291104.Pdf
    Quaternary International 211 (2010) 4–13 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint Morphological and morphometric analysis of variation in the Zhoukoudian Homo erectus brain endocasts Xiujie Wu a,b,*, Lynne A. Schepartz c, Christopher J. Norton d a Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xizhimenwaidajie 142, Box 643, Beijing 100044, China b State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Nanjing 210008, China c Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-7772, USA d Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822-2223, USA article info abstract Article history: The six Zhoukoudian (ZKD) Locality 1 Homo erectus specimens derive from stratigraphic levels 11–3 with Available online 19 July 2009 a geochronological span of approximately 0.3 Ma. This paper introduces the history of the ZKD endocasts and presents data on their morphological features and linear dimensions in order to evaluate variability in the sample over time and in the broader context of human brain evolution using a comparative sample of African and other Asian H. erectus fossils and modern Chinese males. The ZKD brains are very similar in their morphological characteristics, but there are also significant but subtle changes involving expansion of the frontal and occipital lobe breadths that correlate with the geochronology. The same is not true for general endocranial volume. The ZKD brains, together with other Asian and African H. erectus specimens, have low height dimensions and short parietal chords that distinguish them from the modern Chinese.
    [Show full text]
  • Ontogenetic and Adult Shape Variation in the Endocast of Tapirus: Implications for T
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2020 Ontogenetic and Adult Shape Variation in the Endocast of Tapirus: Implications for T. polkensis from the Gray Fossil Site Thomas M. Gaetano East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Other Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Paleobiology Commons, Paleontology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Gaetano, Thomas M., "Ontogenetic and Adult Shape Variation in the Endocast of Tapirus: Implications for T. polkensis from the Gray Fossil Site" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3765. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3765 This Thesis - unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ontogenetic and Adult Shape Variation in the Endocast of Tapirus: Implications for T. polkensis from the Gray Fossil Site ________________________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Geosciences East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Science in Geosciences _________________________________ by Thomas M. Gaetano May 2020 _________________________________ Dr. Steven C. Wallace, Chair Dr. Christopher C. Widga Dr. Richard T. Carter Dr. Thomas C. Jones Keywords: Endocast, Paleoneurology, Tapir, Gray Fossil Site, Telencephalon, Sociality, Paleoecology, Sensory Ecology ABSTRACT Ontogenetic and Adult Shape Variation in the Endocast of Tapirus: Implications for T.
    [Show full text]
  • New Australopithecine Endocast, SK 1585, from Swartkrans, South Africa
    New Australopithecine Endocast, SK 1585, from Swartkrans, South Africa RALPH L. HOLLOWAY Deprrrtmrnt of Anthropology, Colttinbin University, New York, New York 10027 KEY WORDS Brain . Primates . Endocasts . Australopithecines. ABSTRACT The new SK 1585 endocast, found by Dr. Brain at Swartkrans, 1966, is that of a robust australopithecine, matching the endocast of the Olduvai Hominid 5 in volume, and being almost identical to it in morphology. Aside from Olduvai Hominid 5 it is the only robust australopithecine endocast com- plete enough to permit easy reconstruction, as only a small portion of the frontal lobe is missing. While the gyral and sulcal patterns are not clear, there are a number of features indicating that the brain is not that of a pongid, but that is has been reorganized to a hominid pattern, particularly the occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes. A new undistorted endocast, presuma- of visual inspection, after the surface of bly that of a robust australopithecine, the cast had been lightly rubbed with was discovered in January, 1966, by carbon shavings to enhance the surface Dr. C. K. Brain in the hillside dump rub- detail. Various combinations of lighting ble at Swartkrans (Brain, '70, '67). At the were employed to bring out features of kmd suggestion of Dr. Brain, I was in- cerebral morphology. vited to describe this endocast while visit- The volumetric determinations by water ing in Johannesburg during the early part displacement were carried out on plasti- of 1969. I am greatly indebted to Dr. cine reconstructed plaster copy, first Brain and Prof. P. V. Tobias for this checked for its accuracy against the orig- opportunity.
    [Show full text]
  • Relative Size of Brain and Cerebrum in Tyrannosaurus Rex: an Analysis Using Brain-Endocast Quantitative Relationships in Extant Alligators
    Sheridan College SOURCE: Sheridan Institutional Repository Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Publications and Scholarship (FHASS) Winter 2013 Relative size of brain and cerebrum in Tyrannosaurus rex: an analysis using brain-endocast quantitative relationships in extant alligators Grant R. Hurlburt Sheridan College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://source.sheridancollege.ca/fhass_publications SOURCE Citation Hurlburt, Grant R., "Relative size of brain and cerebrum in Tyrannosaurus rex: an analysis using brain- endocast quantitative relationships in extant alligators" (2013). Publications and Scholarship. 32. https://source.sheridancollege.ca/fhass_publications/32 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (FHASS) at SOURCE: Sheridan Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications and Scholarship by an authorized administrator of SOURCE: Sheridan Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 6.1. Left lateral view of endo- cranial cast of wild Alligator mississippiensis. Skull length 34.3 cm, estimated body length, 2.6 m. Scale bar equals 1 cm. 134 ©2013 by Indiana University Press. All rights reserved. Relative Size of Brain and Cerebrum in Tyrannosaurid Dinosaurs: An Analysis 6 Using Brain-Endocast Quantitative Relationships in Extant Alligators Grant R. Hurlburt, Ryan C. Ridgely, and Lawrence M. Witmer Brain and cerebrum mass are estimated from endocasts of three tyran- Abstract nosaurid taxa (Tyrannosaurus rex, Gorgosaurus, and Nanotyrannus) using morphological and quantitative brain-endocast relations in a size series of sexually mature alligators (Alligator mississippiensis).
    [Show full text]
  • New Evidence on Brain-Endocranial Cavity Relationships in Ornithischian
    New evidence on brain−endocranial cavity relationships in ornithischian dinosaurs DAVID C. EVANS Evans, D.C. 2005. New evidence on brain−endocranial cavity relationships in ornithischian dinosaurs. Acta Palaeonto− logica Polonica 50 (3): 617–622. Discussions of brain morphology and relative brain size in nonavian dinosaurs have been complicated by uncertainty in the extent to which the brain filled the endocranial cavity. Recently reported vascular imprints (valleculae) on the endocranial sur− faces of the braincase suggest that nonavian maniraptoriform theropods had brains that tightly fit the endocranium. Similar impressions of the intracranial vascular system are reported here in two ornithischian clades, Hadrosauridae and Pachy− cephalosauridae. These structures are more widespread in dinosaurs than previously thought, and suggest that the brain closely fit the endocranium in some regions of the forebrain through hindbrain in several distantly related dinosaur groups. Key words: Dinosauria, Hadrosauridae, Pachycephalosauridae, endocranial cavity, brain, Cretaceous. David C. Evans [[email protected]], University of Toronto, 3359 Mississauga Rd., Mississauga, ON, Canada, L5L 1C6. Introduction that complex endocranial vascular impressions also occur in hadrosaurid and pachycephalosaurid ornithischians, and that Traditionally nonavian dinosaurs have been regarded as “rep− the brain may have been closely associated with the endo− tilian” in that their brains were thought to have filled a rela− cranium in some regions of the forebrain and post−cerebrum in tively small portion of the endocranial cavity in contrast with these groups. the conditions in mammals and birds (Jerison 1969, 1973; Institutional abbreviations (all in Canada).—CMN, Cana− Hopson 1977, 1979; Rogers 1999; Larsson et al. 2000; Lars− dian Museum of Nature, Ottawa; ROM, Royal Ontario Mu− son 2001).
    [Show full text]
  • The Endocranium of the Theropod Dinosaur Ceratosaurus Studied with Computed Tomography
    The endocranium of the theropod dinosaur Ceratosaurus studied with computed tomography R. KENT SANDERS and DAVID K. SMITH Sanders, R.K. and Smith, D.K. 2005. The endocranium of the theropod dinosaur Ceratosaurus studied with computed to− mography. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50 (3): 601–616. A well preserved specimen of the theropod Ceratosaurus from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of western Colorado was recently described and given the name C. magnicornis. The systematics of the genus is outside the scope of the present study but, as a generally accepted basal tetanuran, the braincase was CT scanned to provide a description of the endocranium, inner ear, pneumatic, and venous sinus systems in a primitive member of this clade. Five major subregions of the theropod endocranium are distinguished for the purpose of simplifying cranial computed tomographic interpretation and to provide a systematic means of comparison to other endocrania. The skull morphology of Ceratosaurus influences the overall braincase morphology and the number and distribution of the major foramina. The low pontine angle and relatively unflexed braincase is considered a more primitive character. The orientation of the horizontal semicircular canal confirms a rather horizontal and unerect posture of the head and neck. As in birds, the narrower skull morphology of Ceratosaurus is as− sociated with fewer cranial nerve foramina. Additionally, the maxillary dominated dentigerous upper jaw of Ceratosaurus is felt to share with the alligator a large rostrally directed maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve and a small ophthalmic branch. The upper bill of birds, being dominated by the premaxillary and lacking teeth, is innervated predominantly by the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve.
    [Show full text]
  • The Neanderthal Endocast from Gánovce (Poprad, Slovak Republic)
    doie-pub 10.4436/jass.97005 ahead of print JASs Reports doi: 10.4436/jass.89003 Journal of Anthropological Sciences Vol. 97 (2019), pp. 139-149 The Neanderthal endocast from Gánovce (Poprad, Slovak Republic) Stanislava Eisová1,2, Petr Velemínský2 & Emiliano Bruner3 1) Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 2) Department of Anthropology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] 3) Programa de Paleobiología, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain email: [email protected] Summary - A Neanderthal endocast, naturally formed by travertine within the crater of a thermal spring, was found at Gánovce, near Poprad (Slovakia), in 1926, and dated to 105 ka. The endocast is partially covered by fragments of the braincase. The volume of the endocast was estimated to be 1320 cc. The endocast was first studied by the Czech paleoanthropologist Emanuel Vlček, who performed metric and morphological analyses which suggested its Neanderthal origin. Vlček published his works more than fifty years ago, but the fossil is scarcely known to the general paleoanthropological community, probably because of language barriers. Here, we review the historical and anatomical information available on the endocasts, providing additional paleoneurological assessments on its features. The endocast displays typical Neanderthal traits, and its overall appearance is similar to Guattari 1, mostly because of the pronounced frontal width and occipital bulging. The morphology of the Gánovce specimen suggests once more that the Neanderthal endocranial phenotype had already evolved at 100 ka. Keywords - Paleoneurology, Neanderthals, Natural endocast, Central Europe. The Gánovce endocast (Vlček, 1949).
    [Show full text]
  • 2008-2009 Chromodoris Kuniei Ransoni
    Fromia millepora Eriphia scrabricola Chloeia sp. Lybia n. sp. Florida MuseuM of Natural History Elysia pusilla Annual Report 2008-2009 Chromodoris kuniei ransoni Trapezia lutea Paraplanocera n. sp. Pilodius flavus Fromia sp. Chromodoris tinctoria Thyrolambrus efflorescens Dolabrifera dolabrifera Aniculus aniculus “The Florida Museum of Natural History is Florida’s state museum Florida Museum of Natural History Marketing and Public Relations of natural history, dedicated to understanding, preserving and PO Box 112710 interpreting biological diversity and cultural heritage.” Gainesville, FL 32611-2710 Editor: Paul Ramey, APR [email protected] Contributing Editors: Elise LeCompte Sharon Thomas Photography: Dan Brumbaugh Jeff Gage Jim Maragos Gustav Paulay Mary Warrick Eric Zamora Design: Leah Parchinski Printing: StorterChilds Printing Co. This Annual Report features images from the Florida Museum of Natural History Malacology Collection. Malacology is devoted to the study of mollusks, the second largest phylum of animals in terms of described species. About 100,000 species of mollusks are known, and the Florida Museum holds more than 30,000 species among 400,000 lots of specimens. More than 300,000 lots are now databased and accessible online (flmnh.ufl.edu/ malacology/collections.htm). The collection is among the five largest in the U.S., and one of the most rapidly growing. It is the second largest mollusk collection worldwide in online accessibility. (left) Marine Malacology Curator Gustav Paulay surveys the biodiversity of Kiritimati Island in the Pacific. Since Paulay’s hire in 2000, the Museum also has added an increasing number of non- molluscan marine invertebrates to its collection. A Message From the Director In December 2008, the Florida Museum received the most significant gift in its long history from its most generous benefactors.
    [Show full text]