Primates exhibit high variability in their locomotion. The main pattern adopted by each species is strictly connected to the surroundings in which it moves and is part of its ecological niche. The way a primate moves influences its morphological evolution, with limb proportions and long bone morphology often used as proxies for locomotion. Nonetheless, other skeletal structures may have been involved in important locomotory adaptations during primate evolution. The skull base provides a substrate for the growth of the brain and interlaces the neurocranium and the face. Also, it is directly connected to the vertebral column, which is pivotal for locomotion. This cranial district, as well as the relative position of the foramen magnum along the cranial base, are often found in literature as crucial elements for the comprehension of locomotion in fossil hominins [1,2,3]. In this study we adopted a Geometric Morphometric approach to investigate the capability of the cranial base morphology in discriminating between different locomotory patterns in a broad sample of living primates, modern humans and fossil hominins. The dataset consists of 308 adult specimens (males and females), for a total of 74 species. The sample is made of 3D surfaces obtained by computerized tomography. The 3D landmark configuration used for the analysis consists of 17 landmarks which synthesize the morphology of the whole cranial base. Three additional landmarks were acquired (prostion, left orbital and opistocranion) in order to capture the position of the foramen magnum along the Frankfurt plane. We tested for the multivariate correlation between cranial base shape/size, foramen magnum position and locomotor categories . The observed correlations were corrected for the effect of phylogenetic relatedness. The results showed that the shape of the cranial base and the position of the foramen magnum are not suitable for distinguishing between different types of locomotion in primates, while the cranial base size exhibited a clear discriminating power, likely due to the ecological importance of body size in primates. When modern humans and fossil hominins were included in the sample, the same correlations did not appear clear, probably due to the small sample of bipedal species. Further studies including other fossil hominins will help to clarify the results. This study suggests that cranial base morphology may have evolved as a non-specialised structure in primates and is probably the result of the multiple connections it has in the skeleton. In addition, the occipital bone and the position of the foramen magnum may not be as informative as previously thought for the interpretation of locomotion in fossil hominins.

Investigating locomotion from cranial base morphology and foramen magnum position in primates and hominins / Landi, Federica; Profico, Antonio; Veneziano, Alessio; Groote, Isabelle De; Manzi, Giorgio. - ELETTRONICO. - 5:(2016), pp. 135-135. (Intervento presentato al convegno European Society for the study of Human Evolution tenutosi a Madrid nel 14-17 September).

Investigating locomotion from cranial base morphology and foramen magnum position in primates and hominins

PROFICO, ANTONIO;VENEZIANO, ALESSIO;MANZI, Giorgio
2016

Abstract

Primates exhibit high variability in their locomotion. The main pattern adopted by each species is strictly connected to the surroundings in which it moves and is part of its ecological niche. The way a primate moves influences its morphological evolution, with limb proportions and long bone morphology often used as proxies for locomotion. Nonetheless, other skeletal structures may have been involved in important locomotory adaptations during primate evolution. The skull base provides a substrate for the growth of the brain and interlaces the neurocranium and the face. Also, it is directly connected to the vertebral column, which is pivotal for locomotion. This cranial district, as well as the relative position of the foramen magnum along the cranial base, are often found in literature as crucial elements for the comprehension of locomotion in fossil hominins [1,2,3]. In this study we adopted a Geometric Morphometric approach to investigate the capability of the cranial base morphology in discriminating between different locomotory patterns in a broad sample of living primates, modern humans and fossil hominins. The dataset consists of 308 adult specimens (males and females), for a total of 74 species. The sample is made of 3D surfaces obtained by computerized tomography. The 3D landmark configuration used for the analysis consists of 17 landmarks which synthesize the morphology of the whole cranial base. Three additional landmarks were acquired (prostion, left orbital and opistocranion) in order to capture the position of the foramen magnum along the Frankfurt plane. We tested for the multivariate correlation between cranial base shape/size, foramen magnum position and locomotor categories . The observed correlations were corrected for the effect of phylogenetic relatedness. The results showed that the shape of the cranial base and the position of the foramen magnum are not suitable for distinguishing between different types of locomotion in primates, while the cranial base size exhibited a clear discriminating power, likely due to the ecological importance of body size in primates. When modern humans and fossil hominins were included in the sample, the same correlations did not appear clear, probably due to the small sample of bipedal species. Further studies including other fossil hominins will help to clarify the results. This study suggests that cranial base morphology may have evolved as a non-specialised structure in primates and is probably the result of the multiple connections it has in the skeleton. In addition, the occipital bone and the position of the foramen magnum may not be as informative as previously thought for the interpretation of locomotion in fossil hominins.
2016
European Society for the study of Human Evolution
04 Pubblicazione in atti di convegno::04b Atto di convegno in volume
Investigating locomotion from cranial base morphology and foramen magnum position in primates and hominins / Landi, Federica; Profico, Antonio; Veneziano, Alessio; Groote, Isabelle De; Manzi, Giorgio. - ELETTRONICO. - 5:(2016), pp. 135-135. (Intervento presentato al convegno European Society for the study of Human Evolution tenutosi a Madrid nel 14-17 September).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/954282
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