Sutural Variability in the Hominoid Anterior Cranial Fossa Robert McCarthy, Monica Kunkel, Department of Biological Sciences, Benedictine University Email contact information:
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[email protected] SAMPLE ABSTRACT Table 2. Results split by age. Table 4. Specimens used in scaling analyses. Group Age A-M434; M555 This study Combined In anthropoids, the orbital plates of frontal bone meet at a “retro-ethmoid” Species Symbol FMNH CMNH USNM % Contact S-E S-E S-E % % % frontal suture in the midline anterior cranial fossa (ACF), separating the contact/n contact/n contact/n presphenoid and mesethmoid bones. Previous research indicates that this Hylobatid 0 0 23 13.0 Hylobatid Adult 0/6 0 4/13 30.8 4/19 21.1 configuration appears variably in chimpanzees and gorillas and infrequently in modern humans, with speculation that its incidence is related to differential Juvenile 0/2 0 3/10 30.0 3/12 25.0 Orangutan 6 0 37 100.0 growth of the brain and orbits, size of the brow ridges or face, or upper facial Combined 0/9 0 7/23 30.4 7/32 21.9 prognathism. We collected qualitative and quantitative data from 164 Gorilla 3 0 4 28.6 previously-opened cranial specimens from 15 hominoid species in addition to A Orangutan Adult 12/12 100.0 21/21 100.0 21/21 100.0 Chimpanzee 1 0 7 57.1 qualitative observations on non-hominoid and hominin specimens in order to Juvenile 13/13 100.0 13/13 100.0 13/13 100.0 (1) document sutural variability in the primate ACF, (2) rethink the evolutionary trajectory of frontal bone contribution to the midline ACF, and Combined 26/26 100.0 34/34 100.0 34/34 34/34 Human 0 83 0 91.8 (3) create a database of ACF observations and measurements which can be Gorilla Adult 3/7 42.9 1/2 50.0 3/7 42.9 used to test hypotheses about structural relationships in the hominoid ACF.