Dados Bibliográficos

Resumo

The degree of spheno‐occipital fusion has been used to assign a relative age to dentally mature hominoid cranial specimens. However, a recent study of captive individuals (Poe: Am J Phys Anthropol 144 (2011) 162–165) concluded that fusion of the spheno‐occipital suture in great ape taxa is of little utility for aging dentally mature individuals. In this contribution, I use dentally mature samples of extant hominoid taxa (Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, Gorilla gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus and Hylobates lar) to investigate a) the temporal relationship between spheno‐occipital fusion and dental maturity, b) whether there is an association between the degree of spheno‐occipital fusion and relative age, c) whether there are differences in relative timing of spheno‐occipital fusion between taxa, and d) whether there are sex differences in the relative timing of spheno‐occipital fusion. Results suggest that a) a substantial proportion of dentally mature wild‐shot chimpanzee, gorilla and orang‐utans have unfused or partially fused spheno‐occipital synchondoses, b) there is an association between the degree of spheno‐occipital fusion and age, c) there are interspecific differences in the timing of spheno‐occipital fusion, and d) there are significant sex differences in spheno‐occipital fusion in chimpanzees, orang‐utans and gibbons. Thus, contrary to previous work, degree of spheno‐occipital fusion is a potentially useful indicator of relative maturity, especially in great ape taxa. Am J Phys Anthropol 156:135–140, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Referências Citadas