Heterochronies and allometries in the evolution of the hominid cranium: a morphometric approach using classical anthropometric variables.

ABSTRACT: This article studies the evolutionary change of allometries in the relative size of the two main cranial modules (neurocranium and splanchnocranium) in the five living hominid species and a diverse sample of extinct hominins. We use six standard craniometric variables as proxies for the length, width and height of each cranial module. Factor analysis and two-block partial least squares (2B-PLS) show that the great apes and modern humans share a pervasive negative ontogenetic allometry in the neurocranium and a positive one in the splanchnocranium. This developmental constraint makes it possible to interpret the cranial heterochronies in terms of ontogenetic scaling processes (i.e., extensions or truncations of the ancestral ontogenetic trajectory) and lateral transpositions (i.e<

SUBMITTER: Perez-Claros JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9420405 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature