Abstract
The primate skull hosts a unique combination of anatomical features among mammals, such as a short face, wide orbits, and big braincase. Together with a trend to fuse bones in late development, these features define the anatomical organization of the skull of primates—which bones articulate to each other and the pattern this creates. Here, I quantified the anatomical organization of the skull of 17 primates and 15 non-primate mammals using anatomical network analysis to assess how the skulls of primates have diverged from those of other mammals, and whether their anatomical differences coevolved with brain size. Results show that primates have a greater anatomical integration of their skulls and a greater disparity among bones than other non-primate mammals. Brain size seems to contribute in part to this difference, but its true effect could not be conclusively proven. This supports the hypothesis that primates have a distinct anatomical organization of the skull, but whether this is related to their larger brains remains an open question.
Highlights
The skull of primates shows a peculiar combination of anatomical features
A principal components analysis (PCA) of the topological variables was performed to visualize the overall pattern of variation across skulls and to select an adequate number of components
RC1 captured topological variables D, C, L, and P (Online Resource, Table S5), which are related to anatomical integration (Box 1)
Summary
The skull of primates shows a peculiar combination of anatomical features. Primates in general have shortened snouts and wide forward-facing eye orbits (Fleagle et al, 2010). Primates tend toward a more vertical posture regardless of locomotion behavior, which affected their cranial base morphology (Fleagle, 1999). Evolving bigger brains imposes functional and anatomical trade-offs among the different parts of the skull. The fact that the back of the face is physically integrated with the cranial base limits changes in the orientation of the cranial base and in encephalization (Lieberman, 2011; Lieberman et al, 2000; McCarthy & Lieberman, 2001)
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