title: Ontogeny of the maxilla in Neanderthals and their ancestors.
abstract: Neanderthals had large and projecting (prognathic) faces similar to those of their putative ancestors from Sima de los Huesos (SH) and different from the retracted modern human face. When such differences arose during development and the morphogenetic modifications involved are unknown. We show that maxillary growth remodelling (bone formation and resorption) of the Devil's Tower (Gibraltar 2) and La Quina 18 Neanderthals and four SH hominins, all sub-adults, show extensive bone deposition, whereas in modern humans extensive osteoclastic bone resorption is found in the same regions. This morphogenetic difference is evident by ∼5 years of age. Modern human faces are distinct from those of the Neanderthal and SH fossils in part because their postnatal growth processes differ markedly. The growth remodelling identified in these fossil hominins is shared with Australopithecus and early Homo but not with modern humans suggesting that the modern human face is developmentally derived.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry; and NYCEP, New York City, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Rodrigo S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Lacruz
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry; and NYCEP, New York City, New York, USA.|Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics, New York University College of Dentistry, New York City, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Bromage
authors.affiliation: Centre for Anatomical and Human Sciences, Department of Archaeology and Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Higgins
authors.affiliation: Universidad Complutense de Madrid-Instituto Carlos III (UCM-ISCIII), Centro de Investigacion de la Evolucion y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan-Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Arsuaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9183-7337
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stringer
authors.affiliation: Centre for Anatomical and Human Sciences, Department of Archaeology and Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, UK.
authors.forename: Ricardo Miguel
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0107-9577
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Godinho
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry; and NYCEP, New York City, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Warshaw
authors.affiliation: Department de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department Geología, Geografía y Medio Ambiente, Fac. de Biología, Ciencias Ambientales y Química, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gracia-Tellez
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Investigacion sobre la Evolucion Humana, Burgos, Spain.
authors.forename: José María Bermúdez
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: de Castro
authors.affiliation: Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eudald
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carbonell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D005580:Fossils / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D059125:Neanderthals