The evolution of cranial morphology in the genus Homo has been characterized by a trend of encephalization [1]. The occipital bone is one of the most studied cranial regions to infer the taxonomic status of human fossil individuals. In fact, the evolution of the genus Homo has been characterized by a progressive increment of brain volume and external occipital morphology seems to record someway this trend. Beside the cranial capacity, the occipital bone shows specific diagnostic traits in different fossil human species like the robust torus in Homo erectus and the “occipital bun” combined to the presence of the supra-iniac fossa in Neanderthals [2]. In the last decades, thanks to the arisen of virtual anthropology, it has been possible to analyze by means of advanced morphometric methods also the endocranial morphology in fossil hominins. This communication aims to compare the endocranial occipital bone morphology in modern humans (N=31) and in fossil hominins (H. erectus, N=3; H. heidelbergensis, N=5; and H. neanderthalensis, N=4) by geometric morphometrics and to test the correlation between shape and brain volume in modern humans and fossil hominins. To acquire the endocranial morphology of the occipital bone we defined 13 fixed landmarks and a set of 40 bilateral surface semilandmarks. The configurations have been analyses via principal component analysis after performing the Procrustes registration. The plot of the first two principal components shows as modern humans occupy large part of the variability. Furthermore, Homo heidelbergensis fossil specimens are in between Homo erectus and Neanderthals along PC2. The 14.15% of the total variance is significantly linked to the taxonomic status and the correlation between endocranial morphology and brain volume is statistically significant only in modern humans (R 2 =0.19, p-value = 0.001). In conclusion our preliminary results show as the endocranial morphology of the occipital bone is different among different human species and there is not a significant correlation between brain volume and endocranial morphology.
A COMPARISON OF ENDOCRANIAL OCCIPITAL BONE MORPHOLOGY IN MODERN HUMAN AND FOSSIL HOMININS
Riccardo Frittitta
Primo
;Antonio ProficoSecondo
;Julie ArnaudUltimo
In corso di stampa
Abstract
The evolution of cranial morphology in the genus Homo has been characterized by a trend of encephalization [1]. The occipital bone is one of the most studied cranial regions to infer the taxonomic status of human fossil individuals. In fact, the evolution of the genus Homo has been characterized by a progressive increment of brain volume and external occipital morphology seems to record someway this trend. Beside the cranial capacity, the occipital bone shows specific diagnostic traits in different fossil human species like the robust torus in Homo erectus and the “occipital bun” combined to the presence of the supra-iniac fossa in Neanderthals [2]. In the last decades, thanks to the arisen of virtual anthropology, it has been possible to analyze by means of advanced morphometric methods also the endocranial morphology in fossil hominins. This communication aims to compare the endocranial occipital bone morphology in modern humans (N=31) and in fossil hominins (H. erectus, N=3; H. heidelbergensis, N=5; and H. neanderthalensis, N=4) by geometric morphometrics and to test the correlation between shape and brain volume in modern humans and fossil hominins. To acquire the endocranial morphology of the occipital bone we defined 13 fixed landmarks and a set of 40 bilateral surface semilandmarks. The configurations have been analyses via principal component analysis after performing the Procrustes registration. The plot of the first two principal components shows as modern humans occupy large part of the variability. Furthermore, Homo heidelbergensis fossil specimens are in between Homo erectus and Neanderthals along PC2. The 14.15% of the total variance is significantly linked to the taxonomic status and the correlation between endocranial morphology and brain volume is statistically significant only in modern humans (R 2 =0.19, p-value = 0.001). In conclusion our preliminary results show as the endocranial morphology of the occipital bone is different among different human species and there is not a significant correlation between brain volume and endocranial morphology.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
