Morphometric studies on the facial skeleton of humans and pongids based on CT-scans.
The changes of the skull, which we can observe during the anthropogenesis, are reflected especially in the different skull proportions. We carried out metric measurements at the median level on 10 adult skulls each of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas as well as 11 skulls of orangutans. All skulls were scanned with a CT at the median level. We measured the lines and angles of the scans and the means and the standard deviations were calculated. We carried out a correlation analysis to observe the relation of their characteristics. We showed that there is a relation between the length of the skull base and the facial length in all species. From the results of the correlation analysis, we can also conclude that a relation exists between the degree of prognathism and the different length measurements of the facial skeleton. We also found a bending of the facial skeleton in relation to the cranial base towards the ventral side, also known as klinorhynchy, in all observed species. The highest degree of klinorhynchy was found in humans and the lowest in orangutans. We will discuss the different definition of the term klinorhynchy and its importance in the evolution of the hominoids.
Schumacher
K U
KU
Dental Clinic of Oral Surgery, Rostock, Germany.
Koppe
T
T
Fanghänel
J
J
Schumacher
G H
GH
Nagai
H
H
D000818:Animals; D002508:Cephalometry; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed