Assessing endocranial variations in great apes and humans using 3D data from virtual endocasts

Bibliographic Data

ID8320191
AuthorsThibaut Bienvenu (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, corresponding author), Franck Guy (0000-0001-7032-7963, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Walter Coudyzer (0000-0002-9367-8720, KU Leuven), Emmanuel Gilissen (Royal Museum for Central Africa), Georges Roualdès (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers), Patrick Vignaud (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Michel Brunet (0000-0003-1818-5237, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
Year2011
Volume145
Issue2
Pages231-246
Publication date2011-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.21488
PMID21365614
OpenAlexW2031068276
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited78

Modern humans are characterized by their large, complex, and specialized brain. Human brain evolution can be addressed through direct evidence provided by fossil hominid endocasts (i.e. paleoneurology), or through indirect evidence of extant species comparative neurology. Here we use the second approach, providing an extant comparative framework for hominid paleoneurological studies. We explore endocranial size and shape differences among great apes and humans, as well as between sexes. We virtually extracted 72 endocasts, sampling all extant great ape species and modern humans, and digitized 37 landmarks on each for 3D generalized Procrustes analysis. All species can be differentiated by their endocranial shape. Among great apes, endocranial shapes vary from short (orangutans) to long (gorillas), perhaps in relation to different facial orientations. Endocranial shape differences among African apes are partly allometric. Major endocranial traits distinguishing humans from great apes are endocranial globularity, reflecting neurological reorganization, and features linked to structural responses to posture and bipedal locomotion. Human endocasts are also characterized by posterior location of foramina rotunda relative to optic canals, which could be correlated to lesser subnasal prognathism compared to living great apes. Species with larger brains (gorillas and humans) display greater sexual dimorphism in endocranial size, while sexual dimorphism in endocranial shape is restricted to gorillas, differences between males and females being at least partly due to allometry. Our study of endocranial variations in extant great apes and humans provides a new comparative dataset for studies of fossil hominid endocasts. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc

Allometry · Archaeology · Biological evolution · Biology · Brain size · Crania · Endocast · Evolutionary biology · Extant taxon · Geography · Gorilla · Hominidae · Homo erectus · Homo sapiens · Paleoanthropology · Sexual dimorphism · Skull · Zoology · Anatomy · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · Medicine · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Primate Behavior and Ecology

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