Ontogeny of facial dimorphism and patterns of individual development within one human population

Abstract

Based on a longitudinal study of radiographs of the Denver Growth Study, we investigated the morphological development of individual and gender differences in the anterior neurocranium, face, and basicranium. In total, 500 X-rays of 14 males and 14 females, each with 18 landmarks and semilandmarks, were digitized and analyzed using geometric morphometric methods. Sexual dimorphism in shape and form is already present at the earliest age stage included in the analysis. However, the nature of dimorphism changes with age. Four factors apper to contribute to cranial sexual dimorphism in human postnatal development: 1) initial, possibly prenatal, differences in shape; 2) differences in the association of size and shape; 3) male hypermorphosis; and 4) some degree of difference in the direction of male and female growth trajectories. Studying changes in individuals, we find a low correlation between newborn and adult morphology, while 3-year-olds already show a high correlation with their adult form. We conclude that the adult pattern of interindividual difference in facial form in a single human population is established within the first few years of life.