105 results on '"Christoph P. E. Zollikofer"'
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2. Application of Tensor Approximation to Multiscale Volume Feature Representations.
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Susanne K. Suter, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and Renato Pajarola
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- 2010
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3. Individual-based modelling of population growth and diffusion in discrete time.
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Natalie Tkachenko, John D Weissmann, Wesley P Petersen, George Lake, Christoph P E Zollikofer, and Simone Callegari
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Individual-based models (IBMs) of human populations capture spatio-temporal dynamics using rules that govern the birth, behavior, and death of individuals. We explore a stochastic IBM of logistic growth-diffusion with constant time steps and independent, simultaneous actions of birth, death, and movement that approaches the Fisher-Kolmogorov model in the continuum limit. This model is well-suited to parallelization on high-performance computers. We explore its emergent properties with analytical approximations and numerical simulations in parameter ranges relevant to human population dynamics and ecology, and reproduce continuous-time results in the limit of small transition probabilities. Our model prediction indicates that the population density and dispersal speed are affected by fluctuations in the number of individuals. The discrete-time model displays novel properties owing to the binomial character of the fluctuations: in certain regimes of the growth model, a decrease in time step size drives the system away from the continuum limit. These effects are especially important at local population sizes of
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- 2017
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4. The primitive brain of early Homo
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Assaf Marom, Delta Bayu Murti, David Lordkipanidze, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Paul Tafforeau, Rusyad Adi Suriyanto, Iwan Kurniawan, Toetik Koesbardiati, José Luis Alatorre Warren, Silvano Engel, and Thibault Bienvenu
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0303 health sciences ,Brain organization ,060101 anthropology ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Western asia ,06 humanities and the arts ,Biological evolution ,biology.organism_classification ,Southeast asian ,03 medical and health sciences ,Frontal lobe ,Human evolution ,Evolutionary biology ,Social cognition ,0601 history and archaeology ,Homo erectus ,030304 developmental biology - Abstract
Brain evolution in early Homo Human brains are larger than and structurally different from the brains of the great apes. Ponce de León et al. explored the timing of the origins of the structurally modern human brain (see the Perspective by Beaudet). By comparing endocasts, representations of the inner surface of fossil brain cases, from early Homo from Africa, Georgia, and Southeast Asia, they show that these structural innovations emerged later than the first dispersal of the genus from Africa, and were probably in place by 1.7 to 1.5 million years ago. The modern humanlike brain organization emerged in cerebral regions thought to be related to toolmaking, social cognition, and language. Their findings suggest that brain reorganization was not a prerequisite for dispersals from Africa, and that there might have been more than one long-range dispersal of early Homo . Science , this issue p. 165 ; see also p. 124
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- 2021
5. Human shoulder development is adapted to obstetrical constraints
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Mikaze Kawada, Masato Nakatsukasa, Takeshi Nishimura, Akihisa Kaneko, Naomichi Ogihara, Shigehito Yamada, Walter Coudyzer, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Marcia S. Ponce de León, and Naoki Morimoto
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musculoskeletal diseases ,Risk ,Shoulder ,Multidisciplinary ,Pan troglodytes ,OBSTETRICAL DILEMMA ,Parturition ,Macaca fuscata ,Fetal Development ,Pregnancy ,ONTOGENETIC ALLOMETRY ,Animals ,Humans ,Female ,Shoulder Dystocia ,CHILDBIRTH ,human activities - Abstract
In humans, obstetrical difficulties arise from the large head and broad shoulders of the neonate relative to the maternal birth canal. Various characteristics of human cranial development, such as the relatively small head of neonates compared with adults and the delayed fusion of the metopic suture, have been suggested to reflect developmental adaptations to obstetrical constraints. On the other hand, it remains unknown whether the shoulders of humans also exhibit developmental features reflecting obstetrical adaptation. Here we address this question by tracking the development of shoulder width from fetal to adult stages in humans, chimpanzees, and Japanese macaques. Compared with nonhuman primates, shoulder development in humans follows a different trajectory, exhibiting reduced growth relative to trunk length before birth and enhanced growth after birth. This indicates that the perinatal developmental characteristics of the shoulders likely evolved to ease obstetrical difficulties such as shoulder dystocia in humans., ヒトは小さく生まれて大きく育つ --その秘密は鎖骨にあり--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-04-13.
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- 2022
6. Interactive Multiscale Tensor Reconstruction for Multiresolution Volume Visualization.
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Susanne K. Suter, José Antonio Iglesias Guitián, Fabio Marton, Marco Agus, Andreas Elsener, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Meenakshisundaram Gopi, Enrico Gobbetti, and Renato Pajarola
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- 2011
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7. Visualizing shape transformation between chimpanzee and human braincases.
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Matthias Specht, Renaud Lebrun, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
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- 2007
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8. The sequence at Carihuela Cave and its potential for research into Neanderthal ecology and the Mousterian in southern Spain
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Juan Manuel Jiménez-Arenas, Juan Ochando, Irka Hajdas, Ignacio Martín-Lerma, Michael J. Walker, José S. Carrión, Santiago Fernández, Isidro Toro-Moyano, Gabriela Amorós, M S Ponce de León, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and M. Munuera
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010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,Global and Planetary Change ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Neanderthal ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Pleistocene ,biology ,Geology ,Mousterian ,01 natural sciences ,Archaeology ,Sequence (geology) ,Cave ,Peninsula ,biology.animal ,Interglacial ,Paleoecology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Hitherto unpublished 14C and 230Th 234U determinations from Carihuela Cave (Granada province, Andalusia, Spain) raise a possibility of late survival here of Neanderthals and their Mousterian technocomplex into an advanced stage of the Late Pleistocene (MIS-3), when anatomically-modern humans with Upper Palaeolithic toolkits were penetrating the region, and when also several carnivore taxa competed for access to the cave. Previous palaeopalynological studies are reinforced by new pollen analyses of samples extracted from coprolites. The palaeoecological and sedimentological records bear comparison with new data from the Padul peat deposits in the Sierra Nevada, and are in line with the view that there was late persistence of the Mousterian in Granada. There is a pressing need for renewed international multidisciplinary research at Carihuela Cave, with up-to-date lithostratigraphical and dating techniques that can expand on results obtained from fieldwork undertaken by a previous generation of researchers. Carihuela Cave continues to hold out great promise for analysing Neanderthal palaeoecology during the Late Pleistocene up to the appearance in southeastern Iberian Peninsula of anatomically-modern Upper Palaeolithic people, particularly with regard to the earlier phases of the Middle Palaeolithic at the cave which await intensive excavation but apparently extend back in time to the last interglacial period.
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- 2019
9. Virtual reconstruction and re-evaluation of the Neanderthal frontal bone from Carigüela Cave (Granada, Spain)
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Juan Manuel Jiménez-Arenas, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Isidro Toro-Moyano, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and Thibault Bienvenu
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010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,Global and Planetary Change ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Neanderthal ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,biology ,Range (biology) ,Geology ,01 natural sciences ,Paleontology ,Frontal bone ,Cave ,Frontal lobe ,Wide nasal bridge ,biology.animal ,Virtual reconstruction ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
During several consecutive excavations from the 1950s to the 1990s the cave of Cariguela de Pinar (Granada, Baetic System, Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula) has yielded an important sample of Neanderthal fossils. Among these finds is a fragmentary frontal bone of an immature individual (CE-05877), which was described earlier. Here we present a new virtual reconstruction and a quantitative analysis of its three-dimensional morphology. Geometric morphometric analyses show that the Cariguela frontal falls within the range of shape variation of 6–7 year-old Neanderthals, and clearly outside the range of variation exhibited by same-age modern humans. Compared to other Neanderthals of similar age, Cariguela has a relatively wide nasal bridge and low frontal profile. Re-analysis of the fossil's endocranial imprints in the light of cerebral sulcal variability in modern humans indicates that only a reduced number of brain sulci can be identified reliably. Overall, the Cariguela fossil provides further support for the view that Neanderthals and modern humans exhibit distinct frontal bone morphologies, while their cerebral frontal lobes exhibit largely similar but highly variable sulcal patterns.
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- 2019
10. Phenotypic variation in infants, not adults, reflects genotypic variation among chimpanzees and bonobos.
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Naoki Morimoto, Marcia S Ponce de León, and Christoph P E Zollikofer
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Studies comparing phenotypic variation with neutral genetic variation in modern humans have shown that genetic drift is a main factor of evolutionary diversification among populations. The genetic population history of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos, is now equally well documented, but phenotypic variation among these taxa remains relatively unexplored, and phenotype-genotype correlations are not yet documented. Also, while the adult phenotype is typically used as a reference, it remains to be investigated how phenotype-genotye correlations change during development. Here we address these questions by analyzing phenotypic evolutionary and developmental diversification in the species and subspecies of the genus Pan. Our analyses focus on the morphology of the femoral diaphysis, which represents a functionally constrained element of the locomotor system. Results show that during infancy phenotypic distances between taxa are largely congruent with non-coding (neutral) genotypic distances. Later during ontogeny, however, phenotypic distances deviate from genotypic distances, mainly as an effect of heterochronic shifts between taxon-specific developmental programs. Early phenotypic differences between Pan taxa are thus likely brought about by genetic drift while late differences reflect taxon-specific adaptations.
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- 2014
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11. An Agent-Based Model of Human Dispersals at a Global Scale.
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Simone Callegari, John David Weissmann, Natalie Tkachenko, Wesley P. Petersen, George Lake, Marcia Ponce de León, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
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- 2013
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12. Tools for rapid prototyping in the biosciences.
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Christoph P. E. Zollikofer and Marcia Ponce de León
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- 1995
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13. Early development of the Neanderthal ribcage reveals a different body shape at birth compared to modern humans
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Daniel, García-Martínez, Markus, Bastir, Asier, Gómez-Olivencia, Bruno, Maureille, Liubov, Golovanova, Vladimir, Doronichev, Takeru, Akazawa, Osamu, Kondo, Hajime, Ishida, Dominic, Gascho, Christoph P E, Zollikofer, Marcia Ponce, de León, and Yann, Heuzé
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Evolutionary Biology ,hemic and lymphatic diseases ,Anthropology ,SciAdv r-articles ,Research Articles ,Research Article - Abstract
Neanderthal infants had a short and deep ribcage that was genetically determined and able to sustain the high metabolism of their massive bodies., Ontogenetic studies provide clues for understanding important paleobiological aspects of extinct species. When compared to that of modern humans, the adult Neanderthal thorax was shorter, deeper, and wider. This is related to the wide Neanderthal body and is consistent with their hypothetical large requirements for energy and oxygen. Whether these differences were already established at birth or appeared later during development is unknown. To delve into this question, we use virtual reconstruction tools and geometric morphometrics to recover the 3D morphology of the ribcages of four Neanderthal individuals from birth to around 3 years old: Mezmaiskaya 1, Le Moustier 2, Dederiyeh 1, and Roc de Marsal. Our results indicate that the comparatively deep and short ribcage of the Neanderthals was already present at birth, as were other skeletal species-specific traits. This morphology possibly represents the plesiomorphic condition shared with Homo erectus, and it is likely linked to large energetic requirements.
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- 2020
14. Shared human-chimpanzee pattern of perinatal femoral shaft morphology and its implications for the evolution of hominin locomotor adaptations.
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Naoki Morimoto, Christoph P E Zollikofer, and Marcia S Ponce de León
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
BackgroundAcquisition of bipedality is a hallmark of human evolution. How bipedality evolved from great ape-like locomotor behaviors, however, is still highly debated. This is mainly because it is difficult to infer locomotor function, and even more so locomotor kinematics, from fossil hominin long bones. Structure-function relationships are complex, as long bone morphology reflects phyletic history, developmental programs, and loading history during an individual's lifetime. Here we discriminate between these factors by investigating the morphology of long bones in fetal and neonate great apes and humans, before the onset of locomotion.Methodology/principal findingsComparative morphometric analysis of the femoral diaphysis indicates that its morphology reflects phyletic relationships between hominoid taxa to a greater extent than taxon-specific locomotor adaptations. Diaphyseal morphology in humans and chimpanzees exhibits several shared-derived features, despite substantial differences in locomotor adaptations. Orangutan and gorilla morphologies are largely similar, and likely represent the primitive hominoid state.Conclusions/significanceThese findings are compatible with two possible evolutionary scenarios. Diaphyseal morphology may reflect retained adaptive traits of ancestral taxa, hence human-chimpanzee shared-derived features may be indicative of the locomotor behavior of our last common ancestor. Alternatively, diaphyseal morphology might reflect evolution by genetic drift (neutral evolution) rather than selection, and might thus be more informative about phyletic relationships between taxa than about locomotor adaptations. Both scenarios are consistent with the hypothesis that knuckle-walking in chimpanzees and gorillas resulted from convergent evolution, and that the evolution of human bipedality is unrelated to extant great ape locomotor specializations.
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- 2012
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15. Human bony labyrinth is an indicator of population history and dispersal from Africa
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Marco Milella, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, John David Weissmann, Toetik Koesbardiati, Gen Suwa, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Carlos S Reyna-Blanco, Tim D. White, Osamu Kondo, Marcia S. Ponce de León, University of Zurich, and White, Tim D
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,0301 basic medicine ,History ,Corrections ,Imaging ,Human Genome Project ,Stabilizing selection ,Tomography ,History, Ancient ,Comparative ,bony labyrinth ,human dispersals ,morphometrics ,stabilizing selection ,Pediatric ,education.field_of_study ,Multidisciplinary ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Ear ,Biological Evolution ,X-Ray Computed ,Anatomy, Comparative ,Phenotype ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Anatomy ,Primates ,Cephalometry ,Human Migration ,Population ,Biology ,Ancient ,Bony labyrinth ,03 medical and health sciences ,Imaging, Three-Dimensional ,Genetics ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Inner ear ,education ,Local adaptation ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,Phenotypic plasticity ,Inner ,030104 developmental biology ,Ancient DNA ,Evolutionary biology ,Ear, Inner ,Three-Dimensional ,Africa ,Biological dispersal ,Tomography, X-Ray Computed - Abstract
The dispersal of modern humans from Africa is now well documented with genetic data that track population history, as well as gene flow between populations. Phenetic skeletal data, such as cranial and pelvic morphologies, also exhibit a dispersal-from-Africa signal, which, however, tends to be blurred by the effects of local adaptation and in vivo phenotypic plasticity, and that is often deteriorated by postmortem damage to skeletal remains. These complexities raise the question of which skeletal structures most effectively track neutral population history. The cavity system of the inner ear (the so-called bony labyrinth) is a good candidate structure for such analyses. It is already fully formed by birth, which minimizes postnatal phenotypic plasticity, and it is generally well preserved in archaeological samples. Here we use morphometric data of the bony labyrinth to show that it is a surprisingly good marker of the global dispersal of modern humans from Africa. Labyrinthine morphology tracks genetic distances and geography in accordance with an isolation-by-distance model with dispersal from Africa. Our data further indicate that the neutral-like pattern of variation is compatible with stabilizing selection on labyrinth morphology. Given the increasingly important role of the petrous bone for ancient DNA recovery from archaeological specimens, we encourage researchers to acquire 3D morphological data of the inner ear structures before any invasive sampling. Such data will constitute an important archive of phenotypic variation in present and past populations, and will permit individual-based genotype-phenotype comparisons.
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- 2018
16. Identification of in vivo Sulci on the External Surface of Eight Adult Chimpanzee Brains: Implications for Interpreting Early Hominin Endocasts
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José Luis Alatorre Warren, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Katerina Semendeferi, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, William D. Hopkins, and Dean Falk
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Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Pan troglodytes ,Australopithecine ,Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Imaging, Three-Dimensional ,0302 clinical medicine ,Species Specificity ,Developmental Neuroscience ,medicine ,Animals ,Arcuate fasciculus ,Broca's area ,Lunate sulcus ,Cerebral Cortex ,Fossil Record ,Anatomy ,biology.organism_classification ,Biological Evolution ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Cytoarchitecture ,Female ,Identification (biology) ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Endocast - Abstract
The only direct source of information about hominin brain evolution comes from the fossil record of endocranial casts (endocasts) that reproduce details of the external morphology of the brain imprinted on the walls of the braincase during life. Surface traces of sulci that separate the brain’s convolutions (gyri) are reproduced sporadically on early hominin endocasts. Paleoneurologists rely heavily on published descriptions of sulci on brains of great apes, especially chimpanzees (humans’ phylogenetically closest living relatives), to guide their identifications of sulci on ape-sized hominin endocasts. However, the few comprehensive descriptions of cortical sulci published for chimpanzees usually relied on post mortem brains, (now) antiquated terminology for some sulci, and photographs or line drawings from limited perspectives (typically right or left lateral views). The shortage of adequate descriptions of chimpanzee sulcal patterns partly explains why the identities of certain sulci on australopithecine endocasts (e.g., the inferior frontal and middle frontal sulci) have been controversial. Here, we provide images of lateral and dorsal surfaces of 16 hemispheres from 4 male and 4 female adult chimpanzee brains that were obtained using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging. Sulci on the exposed surfaces of the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes are identified on the images based on their locations, positions relative to each other, and homologies known from comparative studies of cytoarchitecture in primates. These images and sulcal identifications exceed the quantity and quality of previously published illustrations of chimpanzee brains with comprehensively labeled sulci and, thus, provide a larger number of examples for identifying sulci on hominin endocasts than hitherto available. Our findings, even in a small sample like the present one, overturn published claims that australopithecine endocasts reproduce derived configurations of certain sulci in their frontal lobes that never appear on chimpanzee brains. The sulcal patterns in these new images also suggest that changes in two gyri that bridge between the parietal and occipital lobes may have contributed to cortical reorganization in early hominins. It is our hope that these labeled in vivo chimpanzee brains will assist future researchers in identifying sulci on hominin endocasts, which is a necessary first step in the quest to learn how and when the external morphology of the human cerebral cortex evolved from apelike precursors.
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- 2018
17. Reducing artifacts in CT data used for building stereolithography models: clinical evaluation.
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Tankred Roderik Warnke, M. Path, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, T. Franze, Axel P. Zimmermann, P. Stucki, and Hermann F. Sailer
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- 2001
18. Development of Pelvic Sexual Dimorphism in Hylobatids: Testing the Obstetric Constraints Hypothesis
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Marcia S. Ponce de León, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and Marc Scherrer
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0106 biological sciences ,Morphometrics ,060101 anthropology ,Histology ,Pelvic inlet ,Physiology ,06 humanities and the arts ,Body size ,Biology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Sexual dimorphism ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,medicine ,0601 history and archaeology ,Anatomy ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Pelvis ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Pelvic sexual dimorphism in primates is typically seen as the result of female-specific adaptations to obstetric constraints, which arise from the tight fit between the neonate head and the maternal pelvis. However, it remains debated to which extent pelvic dimorphism is a correlate of obstetric constraints, of body size dimorphism, and/or of other factors. Also, little is known on how pelvic dimorphism develops. Here we use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to address these questions in two hylobatid species, Hylobates lar and Symphalangus syndactylus. These species differ markedly in body size, but within each species, there is only little body size dimorphism. Results show that the neonates of H. lar are large compared to the maternal pelvis, resulting in high cephalopelvic proportions and substantial obstetric constraints. Pelvic sexual dimorphism is moderate but significant: During puberty, females develop a more capacious pelvic inlet than males, while overall pelvic size is similar in both sexes. S. syndactylus has substantially larger pelves than H. lar, but neonates are similar in size to those of H. lar. Cephalopelvic proportions are thus low, and there are no obstetric constraints. Pelvic sexual dimorphism is absent. Overall, these data indicate that pelvic sexual dimorphism in hylobatids reflects obstetric constraints. Anat Rec, 300:859-869, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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- 2017
19. Development of Modular Organization in the Chimpanzee Pelvis
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Alik Huseynov, Marcia S. Ponce de León, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
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0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,Morphometrics ,Histology ,Natural selection ,Shape change ,business.industry ,Ontogeny ,Modularity (biology) ,Anatomy ,Biology ,Modular design ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Evolvability ,03 medical and health sciences ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Evolutionary biology ,medicine ,business ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Pelvis ,Biotechnology - Abstract
The bony pelvis of primates is a composite structure serving a variety of functions, and exhibiting a complex pattern of modularity and integration. Still little is known, however, about how patterns of modularity and integration arise, and how they change throughout ontogeny. Here we study the ontogeny of modularity and integration in developmental and functional units of the pelvis of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. We use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to quantify pelvic shape change from late fetal stages to adulthood, and to track changes in patterns of covariation within and among pelvic regions. Our results show that both developmental and functional units of the pelvis exhibit significant levels of modularity throughout ontogeny. Modularity of developmental units (ilium, ischium, and pubis) decreases with increasing age, whereas modularity of functional units tends to increase. We suggest that the decreasing modularity and increasing integration of developmental units reflects their gradual fusion. In contrast, increasing modularity of functional pelvic units likely reflects changing functional demands during an individual's lifetime. Overall, ontogenetic changes in patterns of modularity and integration imply that natural selection could act differently on each module, either developmental or functional, at different stages of ontogeny. This further implies that adult patterns of covariation in the pelvis provide only limited information about its evolvability. Anat Rec, 300:675-686, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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- 2017
20. Evidence for independent brain and neurocranial reorganization during hominin evolution
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William D. Hopkins, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and José Luis Alatorre Warren
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Pan troglodytes ,Brain reorganization ,Computed tomography ,Biology ,morphological integration ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,human evolution ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,neurocranium ,Bipedalism ,Anterior displacement ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,Cerebellar fossa ,Multidisciplinary ,Gorilla gorilla ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Skull ,Encephalization ,Brain ,Biological Sciences ,Biological Evolution ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,brain reorganization ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Human evolution ,Neurocranium ,Evolutionary biology ,Anthropology ,biomedical imaging ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Significance Human brains differ substantially from those of great apes, and equally important differences exist between their braincases. However, it remains unclear to which extent evolutionary changes in brain structure are related to changes in braincase structure. To study this question, we use combined computed tomography (CT) and MRI head data of humans and chimpanzees and quantify the spatial correlations between brain sulci and cranial sutures. We show that the human brain–braincase relationships are unique compared to chimpanzees and other great apes and that structural rearrangements in the brain and in the braincase emerged independently during human evolution. These data serve as an important frame of reference to identify and quantify evolutionary changes in brain and braincase structures in fossil hominin endocasts., Throughout hominin evolution, the brain of our ancestors underwent a 3-fold increase in size and substantial structural reorganization. However, inferring brain reorganization from fossil hominin neurocrania (=braincases) remains a challenge, above all because comparative data relating brain to neurocranial structures in living humans and great apes are still scarce. Here we use MRI and same-subject spatially aligned computed tomography (CT) and MRI data of humans and chimpanzees to quantify the spatial relationships between these structures, both within and across species. Results indicate that evolutionary changes in brain and neurocranial structures are largely independent of each other. The brains of humans compared to chimpanzees exhibit a characteristic posterior shift of the inferior pre- and postcentral gyri, indicative of reorganization of the frontal opercular region. Changes in human neurocranial structure do not reflect cortical reorganization. Rather, they reflect constraints related to increased encephalization and obligate bipedalism, resulting in relative enlargement of the parietal bones and anterior displacement of the cerebellar fossa. This implies that the relative position and size of neurocranial bones, as well as overall endocranial shape (e.g., globularity), should not be used to make inferences about evolutionary changes in the relative size or reorganization of adjacent cortical regions of fossil hominins.
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- 2019
21. Drivers of Late Pleistocene human survival and dispersal: an agent-based modeling and machine learning approach
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Marcia S. Ponce de León, Ali R. Vahdati, Axel Timmermann, John David Weissmann, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and University of Zurich
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,Archeology ,Evolution ,Ecology (disciplines) ,Population ,Climate change ,2306 Global and Planetary Change ,Equifinality ,Machine learning ,computer.software_genre ,Behavior and Systematics ,education ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,1907 Geology ,education.field_of_study ,Global and Planetary Change ,Extinction ,Ecology ,business.industry ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Paleogenetics ,Geology ,Geography ,1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Archaeology ,Paleoanthropology ,Biological dispersal ,3302 Archeology ,Artificial intelligence ,1204 Archeology (arts and humanities) ,business ,computer - Abstract
Understanding Late Pleistocene human dispersals from Africa requires understanding a multifaceted problem with factors varying in space and time, such as climate, ecology, human behavior, and population dynamics. To understand how these factors interact to affect human survival and dispersal, we have developed a realistic agent-based model that includes geographic features, climate change, and time-varying vegetation and food resources. To enhance computational efficiency, we further apply machine learning algorithms. Our approach is new in that it is designed to systematically evaluate a large-scale agent-based model, and identify its key parameters and sensitivities. Results show that parameter interactions are the major source in generating variability in human dispersal and survival/extinction scenarios. In realistic scenarios with geographical features and time-evolving climatic conditions, random fluctuations become a major source of variability in arrival times and success. Furthermore, parameter settings as different as 92% of maximum possible difference, and occupying more than 30% of parameter space can result in similar dispersal scenarios. This suggests that historical contingency (similar causes – different effects) and equifinality (different causes – similar effects) are primary constituents of human dispersal scenarios. While paleoanthropology, archaeology and paleogenetics now provide insights into patterns of human dispersals at an unprecedented level of detail, elucidating the causes underlying these patterns remains a major challenge.
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- 2019
22. The primitive brain of early
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Marcia S, Ponce de León, Thibault, Bienvenu, Assaf, Marom, Silvano, Engel, Paul, Tafforeau, José Luis, Alatorre Warren, David, Lordkipanidze, Iwan, Kurniawan, Delta Bayu, Murti, Rusyad Adi, Suriyanto, Toetik, Koesbardiati, and Christoph P E, Zollikofer
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Fossils ,Africa ,Skull ,Asia, Western ,Animals ,Brain ,Humans ,Hominidae ,Biological Evolution ,Frontal Lobe - Abstract
The brains of modern humans differ from those of great apes in size, shape, and cortical organization, notably in frontal lobe areas involved in complex cognitive tasks, such as social cognition, tool use, and language. When these differences arose during human evolution is a question of ongoing debate. Here, we show that the brains of early
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- 2019
23. Variation of bony labyrinthine morphology in Mio-Plio-Pleistocene and modern anthropoids
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Masato Nakatsukasa, Gen Suwa, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Tomohiko Sasaki, Hidemi Ishida, Naoki Morimoto, Yutaka Kunimatsu, Marcia S. Ponce de León, University of Zurich, and Morimoto, Naoki
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,Old World ,Biology ,Oreopithecus ,Anthropology, Physical ,Bony labyrinth ,stomatognathic system ,Ardipithecus ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Inner ear ,Phylogeny ,Aegyptopithecus ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Fossils ,Plio-Pleistocene ,Haplorhini ,2702 Anatomy ,biology.organism_classification ,Biological Evolution ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Australopithecus ,Evolutionary biology ,Anthropology ,Ear, Inner ,3314 Anthropology ,Anatomy - Abstract
Objectives The bony labyrinth of the inner ear has special relevance when tracking phenotypic evolution because it is often well preserved in fossil and modern primates. Here we track the evolution of the bony labyrinth of anthropoid primates during the Mio−Plio−Pleistocene—the time period that gave rise to the extant great apes and humans. Materials and Methods We use geometric morphometrics to analyze labyrinthine morphology in a wide range of extant and fossil anthropoids, including New World and Old World monkeys, apes, and humans; fossil taxa are represented by Aegyptopithecus, Microcolobus, Epipliopithecus, Nacholapithecus, Oreopithecus, Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and Homo. Results Our results show that the morphology of the anthropoid bony labyrinth conveys a statistically significant phylogenetic signal especially at the family level. The bony labyrinthine morphology of anthropoids is also in part associated with size, but does not cluster by locomotor adaptations. The Miocene apes examined here, regardless of inferred locomotor behaviors, show labyrinthine morphologies distinct from modern great apes. Discussion Our results suggest that labyrinthine variation contains mixed signals and alternative explanations need to be explored, such as random genetic drift and neutral phenotypic evolution, as well as developmental constraints. The observed pattern in fossil and extant hominoids also suggests that an additional factor, for example, prenatal brain development, could have potentially had a larger role in the evolutionary modification of the bony labyrinth than hitherto recognized.
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- 2019
24. Comparative analysis of dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi mandibles
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Paul Tafforeau, Marcia S. Ponce de León, David Lordkipanidze, Ann Margvelashvili, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
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education.field_of_study ,060101 anthropology ,Fossil Record ,Population ,030206 dentistry ,06 humanities and the arts ,Biology ,medicine.disease ,Hypercementosis ,Phys anthropol ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young age ,0302 clinical medicine ,Evolutionary biology ,Anthropology ,medicine ,0601 history and archaeology ,Anatomy ,education ,Demography - Abstract
Objectives Due to the scarcity of the fossil record, in vivo changes in the dentognathic system of early Homo are typically documented at the level of individual fossil specimens, and it remains difficult to draw population-level inferences about dietary habits, diet-related activities and lifestyle from individual patterns of dentognathic alterations. The Plio-Pleistocene hominin sample from Dmanisi (Georgia), dated to 1.77 million years ago, offers a unique opportunity to study in vivo changes in the dentognathic system of individuals belonging to a single paleodeme of early Homo. Materials and Methods We analyze dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi sample, and in comparative samples of modern Australian and Greenlander hunter-gatherer populations, applying clinical protocols of dentognathic diagnostics. Results The Dmanisi hominins exhibit a similarly wide diversity and similar incidence of dentognathic pathologies as the modern human hunter-gatherer population samples investigated here. Dmanisi differs from the modern population samples in several respects: At young age tooth wear is already advanced, and pathologies are more prevalent. At old age, hypercementosis is substantial. Conclusions Results indicate that dentognathic pathologies and disease trajectories are largely similar in early Homo and modern humans, but that the disease load was higher in early Homo, probably as an effect of higher overall stress on the dentognathic system. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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- 2016
25. Palynology and chronology of hyaena coprolites from the Piñar karstic Caves Las Ventanas and Carihuela, southern Spain
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M S Ponce de León, Louis Scott, Juan Ochando, Monika Knul, José S. Carrión, Isidro Toro-Moyano, John R. Stewart, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Joaquín Rodríguez-Vidal, Gabriela Amorós, M. Munuera, Juan Manuel Jiménez-Arenas, Santiago Fernández, University of Zurich, and Ochando, J
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,Pleistocene ,Evolution ,1904 Earth-Surface Processes ,Coprolite ,Oceanography ,law.invention ,Behavior and Systematics ,Cave ,law ,1910 Oceanography ,Glacial period ,Radiocarbon dating ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Holocene ,Earth-Surface Processes ,Palynology ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Ecology ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Palaeontology ,Paleontology ,Earth ,Archaeology ,1911 Paleontology ,1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Surface Processes ,Geology ,Chronology - Abstract
This paper presents pollen analyses and radiocarbon dating on Crocuta coprolites from Las Ventanas (LV) and Carihuela (Car) Caves in southern Spain (Granada), with the aim of reconstructing the environmental conditions of these hominin sites. The LV coprolites are radiocarbon dated from c. 37,890 to 6980 cal yr BP, and the Car coprolites from c. 31,063 to 7861 cal yr BP. Overall, the palaeoecological scenario inferred from both coprolite series display similar patterns, with Pinus, Poaceae, and Artemisia as dominant during the full Pleistocene, and an important contribution of Quercus in the most recently dated coprolite samples. While the palynology is consistent with results of former investigations on the past environments in the region as obtained from other deposits (peat bogs, cave infills), the Late Glacial and Holocene chronology of several coprolites in both sites is in conflict with the generally accepted timing of extinction of Crocuta in western Europe. A discussion on the taphonomical processes and potential sources of carbon contamination of the radiocarbon samples is provided. The correlation between pollen from coprolites and from sedimentary records, and the paucity of the fossil bone record suggests nevertheless, that a late survival of Crocuta in southern Spain should not be categorically discarded.
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- 2020
26. Reconstructing the Neanderthal brain using computational anatomy
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Osamu Kondo, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Kunihiro Hasegawa, Hiromasa Suzuki, Takeru Akazawa, Markus Bastir, Takanori Kochiyama, Chris Stringer, Norihiro Sadato, Hideki Amano, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Hiroki C. Tanabe, Naomichi Ogihara, University of Zurich, Ogihara, Naomichi, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan), Swiss National Science Foundation, and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
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0301 basic medicine ,10207 Department of Anthropology ,Cerebellum ,Neanderthal ,Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed ,Biological anthropology ,Climate Change ,lcsh:Medicine ,Article ,Social Skills ,03 medical and health sciences ,Executive Function ,0302 clinical medicine ,Cognition ,Imaging, Three-Dimensional ,biology.animal ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,lcsh:Science ,Neanderthals ,Analysis of Variance ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Working memory ,Cerebrum ,Fossils ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,lcsh:R ,Skull ,Cognitive flexibility ,Computational Biology ,Computational anatomy ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Memory, Short-Term ,Archaeology ,nervous system ,Homo sapiens ,Anthropology ,Linear Models ,lcsh:Q ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Algorithms - Abstract
© The Author(s) 2018., The present study attempted to reconstruct 3D brain shape of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens based on computational neuroanatomy. We found that early Homo sapiens had relatively larger cerebellar hemispheres but a smaller occipital region in the cerebrum than Neanderthals long before the time that Neanderthals disappeared. Further, using behavioural and structural imaging data of living humans, the abilities such as cognitive flexibility, attention, the language processing, episodic and working memory capacity were positively correlated with size-adjusted cerebellar volume. As the cerebellar hemispheres are structured as a large array of uniform neural modules, a larger cerebellum may possess a larger capacity for cognitive information processing. Such a neuroanatomical difference in the cerebellum may have caused important differences in cognitive and social abilities between the two species and might have contributed to the replacement of Neanderthals by early Homo sapiens., This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientifc Research on Innovative Areas “Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans: Testing Evolutionary Models of Learning” from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to T.A. (#22101001), N.O. (#22101006), and H.C.T. (#22101007) respectively, and by Swiss NSF grant 31003A_135470 to C.P.E.Z., CGL-2015-63648-P MINECO, Spain to M.B., and Te Calleva Foundation and the Human Origins Research Fund to C.S.
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- 2018
27. Femoral ontogeny in humans and great apes and its implications for their last common ancestor
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Masato Nakatsukasa, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Naoki Morimoto, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, University of Zurich, and Morimoto, Naoki
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0301 basic medicine ,Most recent common ancestor ,10207 Department of Anthropology ,Hominidae ,Ontogeny ,Biological anthropology ,lcsh:Medicine ,Morphology (biology) ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Phylogenetics ,Animals ,Humans ,0601 history and archaeology ,Femur ,lcsh:Science ,Phylogeny ,Ancestor ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,Principal Component Analysis ,060101 anthropology ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,lcsh:R ,06 humanities and the arts ,biology.organism_classification ,030104 developmental biology ,Evolutionary biology ,Anthropology ,lcsh:Q ,Diaphyses ,Knuckle-walking - Abstract
Inferring the morphology of the last common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas is a matter of ongoing debate. Recent findings and reassessment of fossil hominins leads to the hypothesis that the last common ancestor was not extant African ape-like. However, an African great-ape-like ancestor with knuckle walking features still remains plausible and the most parsimonious scenario. Here we address this question via an evolutionary developmental approach, comparing taxon-specific patterns of shape change of the femoral diaphysis from birth to adulthood in great apes, humans, and macaques. While chimpanzees and gorillas exhibit similar locomotor behaviors, our data provide evidence for distinct ontogenetic trajectories, indicating independent evolutionary histories of femoral ontogeny. Our data further indicate that anthropoid primates share a basic pattern of femoral diaphyseal ontogeny that reflects shared developmental constraints. Humans escaped from these constraints via differential elongation of femur., ヒトの祖先はチンパンジーやゴリラには似ていない --発生パターンの比較から二足歩行の起源に迫る--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2018-02-01.
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- 2018
28. Virtual reconstruction of the Neanderthal Amud 1 cranium
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Hideki Amano, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Hiromasa Suzuki, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Markus Bastir, Yusuke Morita, Osamu Kondo, Chris Stringer, Takeo Kikuchi, and Naomichi Ogihara
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Neanderthal ,biology ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Bilateral symmetry ,Computed tomography ,Anatomy ,Paleontology ,Skull ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Anthropology ,biology.animal ,Maxilla ,Endocranium ,Virtual reconstruction ,medicine ,Endocast ,Geology - Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We describe a new computer reconstruction to obtain complete anatomical information of the ecto- and endocranium from the imperfectly preserved skull of the Neanderthal Amud 1. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were obtained from computed tomography scans of the fossil cranium. Adhesive and plaster were then virtually removed from the original specimen, and the fragments comprising the fossil cranium were separated. These fragments were then mathematically reassembled based on the smoothness of the joints. Both sides of the cranium were reassembled separately, and then aligned based on bilateral symmetry and the distance between the mandibular fossae obtained from the associated mandible. The position of the isolated maxilla was determined based on the position of the mandible that was anatomically articulated to the mandibular fossae. To restore missing basicranial and damaged endocranial regions, the cranium of Forbes' Quarry 1 was warped onto that of La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1, and the resulting composite Neanderthal cranium was then warped onto the reconstructed Amud 1 by an iterative thin-plate spline deformation. RESULTS: Comparison of the computer reconstruction with the original indicated that the newly reconstructed Amud 1 cranium was slightly shorter and wider in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions, respectively, suggesting that it was relatively more brachycephalic. The endocranial volume was estimated to be 1,736 cm3 , which was quite similar to the original estimated value of 1,740 cm3 . DISCUSSION: This new computer reconstruction enables not only measurement of new cranial metrics, but also inclusion of the Amud 1 specimen in three-dimensional geometric morphometric analyses that were previously difficult due to its incompleteness.
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- 2015
29. Let bone and muscle talk together: a study of real and virtual dissection and its implications for femoral musculoskeletal structure of chimpanzees
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Gen Suwa, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Masato Nakatsukasa, C. Owen Lovejoy, Naoki Morimoto, Takeshi Nishimura, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, University of Zurich, and Morimoto, Naoki
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,Histology ,Pan troglodytes ,Fossa ,Dissection (medical) ,Biology ,2722 Histology ,Tendons ,1309 Developmental Biology ,1307 Cell Biology ,1312 Molecular Biology ,medicine ,Muscle attachment ,Animals ,Musculoskeletal structure ,Muscle, Skeletal ,Musculoskeletal System ,Molecular Biology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Osteology ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Femur Head ,Original Articles ,Cell Biology ,Anatomy ,Comparative anatomy ,2702 Anatomy ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Tendon ,1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Single muscle ,Buttocks ,Female ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
Proximal femoral morphology and associated musculature are of special relevance to the understanding of hominoid locomotor systems. Knowledge of bone-muscle correspondence in extant hominoids forms an important comparative basis for inferring structure-function relationships in fossil hominids. However, there is still a lack of consensus on the correspondence between muscle attachment sites and surface morphology of the proximal femoral diaphysis in chimpanzees. Two alternative observations have been proposed regarding the attachment site positions of gluteus maximus (GM) and vastus lateralis (VL) relative to two prominent surface features of the proximal femoral diaphysis, the lateral spiral pilaster and the inferolateral fossa. Here, we use a combination of virtual and physical dissection in an attempt to identify the exact correspondence between muscle attachment sites and osteological features in two specimens of Pan troglodytes verus. The results show that the insertion of the GM tendon is consistently inferolateral to the lateral spiral pilaster, and that a part of the inferolateral fossa consistently forms the attachment site of the VL muscular fibers. While overall musculoskeletal features are similar in the two specimens examined in this study, GM and VL exhibit different degrees of segregation at the level of the inferolateral fossa. One specimen exhibited tendinous GM fibers penetrating the posteromedial part of VL, with both GM and VL inserting at the inferolateral fossa. In the other specimen, GM and VL were separated by a lateral intermuscular septum, which inserted into the inferolateral fossa. Variation of proximal femoral muscle attachments in chimpanzees is thus greater than previously thought. Our results indicate that a conspicuous osteological feature such as the inferolateral fossa does not necessarily correspond to the attachment site of a single muscle, but could serve as a boundary region between two muscles. Caution is thus warranted when interpreting the surface topography of muscle attachment sites and inferring locomotor functions.
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- 2015
30. Neomorphosis and heterochrony of skull shape in dog domestication
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Dominic Gascho, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Cornelia Mainini, Madeleine Geiger, Allowen Evin, Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, Universität Zürich [Zürich] = University of Zurich (UZH), Department of Zoology [Cambridge], University of Cambridge [UK] (CAM), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Liverpool, University of Zurich, Geiger, Madeleine, École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226, and Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE)
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0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,10207 Department of Anthropology ,Ontogeny ,lcsh:Medicine ,Morphology (biology) ,Breeding ,Biology ,10125 Paleontological Institute and Museum ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,Domestication ,03 medical and health sciences ,Dogs ,medicine ,Animals ,Juvenile ,lcsh:Science ,Neoteny ,Phylogeny ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,Wolves ,Multidisciplinary ,Crania ,[SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] ,[SDV.BA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology ,Skull ,lcsh:R ,biology.organism_classification ,Biological Evolution ,10218 Institute of Legal Medicine ,Phenotype ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,560 Fossils & prehistoric life ,Evolutionary biology ,lcsh:Q ,Heterochrony - Abstract
The overall similarity of the skull shape of some dog breeds with that of juvenile wolves begs the question if and how ontogenetic changes such as paedomorphosis (evolutionary juvenilisation) played a role in domestication. Here we test for changes in patterns of development and growth during dog domestication. We present the first geometric morphometric study using ontogenetic series of dog and wolf crania, and samples of dogs with relatively ancestral morphology and from different time periods. We show that patterns of juvenile-to-adult morphological change are largely similar in wolves and domestic dogs, but differ in two ways. First, dog skulls show unique (neomorphic) features already shortly after birth, and these features persist throughout postnatal ontogeny. Second, at any given age, juvenile dogs exhibit skull shapes that resemble those of consistently younger wolves, even in dog breeds that do not exhibit a ‘juvenilized’ morphology as adults. These patterns exemplify the complex nature of evolutionary changes during dog domestication: the cranial morphology of adult dogs cannot simply be explained as either neomorphic or paedomorphic. The key to our understanding of dog domestication may lie in a closer comparative examination of developmental phases.
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- 2017
31. Effects of cranial integration on hominid endocranial shape
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Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Thibaut Bienvenu, Marcia S. Ponce de León, University of Zurich, and Zollikofer, Christoph P E
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Male ,0301 basic medicine ,10207 Department of Anthropology ,Histology ,Morphology (biology) ,Biology ,2722 Histology ,1309 Developmental Biology ,1307 Cell Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Globular shape ,medicine ,1312 Molecular Biology ,Animals ,Humans ,10. No inequality ,Molecular Biology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Skull Base ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Skull ,Brain morphometry ,Age Factors ,Brain ,Hominidae ,Original Articles ,Cell Biology ,Anatomy ,2702 Anatomy ,Biological Evolution ,030104 developmental biology ,Brain growth ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Viscerocranium ,Neurocranium ,Female ,Small face ,Endocast ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
Because brains do not fossilize, the internal surface of the braincase (endocast) serves as an important source of information about brain growth, development, and evolution. Recent studies of endocranial morphology and development in great apes, fossil hominins, and modern humans have revealed taxon-specific differences. However, it remains to be investigated to which extent differences in endocranial morphology reflect differences in actual brain morphology and development, and to which extent they reflect different interactions of the brain and its case with the cranial base and face. Here we address this question by analyzing the effects of cranial integration on endocranial morphology. We test the 'spatial packing' and 'facial orientation' hypotheses, which propose that size and orientation of the neurocranium relative to the viscerocranium influence endocranial shape. Results show that a substantial proportion of endocranial shape variation along and across ontogenetic trajectories is due to cranial integration. Specifically, the uniquely globular shape of the human endocast mainly results from the combination of an exceptionally large brain with a comparatively small face. Overall, thus, cranial integration has pervasive effects on endocranial morphology, and only a comparatively small proportion of inter- and intra-taxon variation can directly be associated with variation in brain morphology.
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- 2017
32. A Stable Finite-Difference Scheme for Population Growth and Diffusion on a Map
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Simone Callegari, John David Weissmann, George Lake, Natalie Tkachenko, Wesley P. Petersen, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
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0301 basic medicine ,Atmospheric Science ,Diffusion equation ,Paleoclimate ,lcsh:Medicine ,Population dispersal ,030105 genetics & heredity ,Diffusion ,Neumann boundary condition ,Population growth ,lcsh:Science ,Productivity ,Climatology ,education.field_of_study ,Numerical Analysis ,Multidisciplinary ,Geography ,Ecology ,Physics ,Solver ,Emigration and Immigration ,Computer simulation ,Finite element method ,Paleogeography ,Physical Sciences ,Carrying Capacity ,Map ,Geology ,Algorithms ,Research Article ,Human ,Optimization ,Ecological Metrics ,Population ,Finite Element Analysis ,03 medical and health sciences ,Population Metrics ,Carrying capacity ,Applied mathematics ,Humans ,education ,Paleoclimatology ,Population Density ,Traveling Waves ,Population Biology ,Western Hemisphere ,Numerical analysis ,Ecology and Environmental Sciences ,lcsh:R ,Biology and Life Sciences ,Paleontology ,Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted ,Upper Pleistocene ,Interpolation ,030104 developmental biology ,Linear Models ,Waves ,Earth Sciences ,lcsh:Q ,Paleoecology ,Paleobiology ,Paleogenetics ,World map ,Mathematics - Abstract
We describe a general Godunov-type splitting for numerical simulations of the Fisher–Kolmogorov–Petrovski–Piskunov growth and diffusion equation on a world map with Neumann boundary conditions. The procedure is semi-implicit, hence quite stable. Our principal application for this solver is modeling human population dispersal over geographical maps with changing paleovegetation and paleoclimate in the late Pleistocene. As a proxy for carrying capacity we use Net Primary Productivity (NPP) to predict times for human arrival in the Americas., PLoS ONE, 12 (1), ISSN:1932-6203
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- 2017
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33. Individual-based modelling of population growth and diffusion in discrete time
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Wesley P. Petersen, Simone Callegari, John David Weissmann, Natalie Tkachenko, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, George Lake, University of Zurich, and Tkachenko, Natalie
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0301 basic medicine ,10207 Department of Anthropology ,Population Dynamics ,Social Sciences ,lcsh:Medicine ,01 natural sciences ,Human population dynamics ,Quantitative Biology::Populations and Evolution ,Limit (mathematics) ,Statistical physics ,lcsh:Science ,Mathematics ,Mass Diffusivity ,Multidisciplinary ,Continuum (measurement) ,Ecology ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Physics ,Simulation and Modeling ,Chemistry ,Discrete time and continuous time ,Archaeology ,Physical Sciences ,Carrying Capacity ,Research Article ,Ecological Metrics ,1100 General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Research and Analysis Methods ,03 medical and health sciences ,Population Metrics ,1300 General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,0103 physical sciences ,Population growth ,Carrying capacity ,Humans ,010306 general physics ,Population Growth ,Probability ,Population Density ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,Traveling Waves ,Chemical Physics ,Population Biology ,Ecology and Environmental Sciences ,lcsh:R ,Biology and Life Sciences ,Models, Theoretical ,030104 developmental biology ,Archaeological Dating ,Waves ,Biological dispersal ,lcsh:Q ,Constant (mathematics) - Abstract
Individual-based models (IBMs) of human populations capture spatio-temporal dynamics using rules that govern the birth, behavior, and death of individuals. We explore a stochastic IBM of logistic growth-diffusion with constant time steps and independent, simultaneous actions of birth, death, and movement that approaches the Fisher-Kolmogorov model in the continuum limit. This model is well-suited to parallelization on high-performance computers. We explore its emergent properties with analytical approximations and numerical simulations in parameter ranges relevant to human population dynamics and ecology, and reproduce continuous-time results in the limit of small transition probabilities. Our model prediction indicates that the population density and dispersal speed are affected by fluctuations in the number of individuals. The discrete-time model displays novel properties owing to the binomial character of the fluctuations: in certain regimes of the growth model, a decrease in time step size drives the system away from the continuum limit. These effects are especially important at local population sizes of, PLoS ONE, 12 (4), ISSN:1932-6203
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- 2017
34. Virtual Reconstruction and Geometric Morphometrics as Tools for Paleopathology: A New Approach to Study Rare Developmental Disorders of the Skeleton
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Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Marcia S. Ponce de León, and Marco Milella
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Morphometrics ,Histology ,Anatomy ,Biology ,Skeleton (computer programming) ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Virtual reconstruction ,medicine ,Triradiate cartilage ,Neoteny ,Paleopathology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Pelvis ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Survey studies of osteoarchaeological collections occasionally yield specimens exhibiting rare skeletal developmental disorders. Beyond paleopathological diagnosis, however, it is often difficult to gain insight into the processes, mechanisms, and consequences of the pathology, notably because archaeological specimens are often fragmentary. Here, we propose a combination of virtual reconstruction (VR) and geometric morphometrics (GM) to address these issues. As an example, we use VR to reconstruct the only known archaeological specimen exhibiting persistence of the pelvic triradiate cartilage and compare it via GM with a set of healthy pelvises representing both sexes and different ontogenetic stages. Our results evidence (i) a marked deviation of the pathological pelvis from the adult mean shape, (ii) the retention of typical male features, and (iii) the retention of a paedomorphic ratio between iliac and ischiopubic size. Altogether, such data offer new insights into the modularity and integration of pelvic ontogeny, while at the same time demonstrating the usefulness of a combined VR/GM approach as complement to classical methods of paleopathology.
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- 2014
35. A Neolithic Case of Mesomelic Dysplasia from Northern Switzerland
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M S Ponce de León, Marco Milella, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
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Archeology ,History ,Social perception ,Mesomelic Dysplasia ,Postcrania ,Disease ,medicine.disease ,Care provision ,Prehistory ,Anthropology ,medicine ,Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis ,Active support ,Demography - Abstract
Paleopathological cases of skeletal dysplasias (SD) are particularly interesting from a biological as well as biocultural perspective. Evidence of SD is relevant when discussing the antiquity of specific mutations, as well as the social perception of disease in the past. Here we propose a differential diagnosis for a Neolithic case of SD and discuss the possible social correlates of the observed condition. The subject of this study, a child with an age at death of about 12 years from the Late Neolithic site of Schweizersbild (Northern Switzerland), presents a bilateral shortening of the forearm and lower leg, with no further modifications affecting the cranial and postcranial skeleton. Morphological, metric, as well as radiographic analyses point to a diagnosis of Leri Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD), making the present case the earliest known paleopathological example of this condition. From a biocultural perspective, the skeletal changes affecting the child, together with her/his relatively advanced age, suggest active support from the community, providing new data to inform the debate on the cultural dimensions of disease in prehistory.
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- 2014
36. Mammalian skull heterochrony reveals modular evolution and a link between cranial development and brain size
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Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, Nguyen Truong Son, Analía M. Forasiepi, Naoki Morimoto, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Daisuke Koyabu, Hideki Endo, Junpei Kimura, Satoshi D. Ohdachi, Ingmar Werneburg, University of Zurich, and Koyabu, Daisuke
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,0106 biological sciences ,General Physics and Astronomy ,1600 General Chemistry ,10125 Paleontological Institute and Museum ,Biology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,1300 General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Osteogenesis ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Endochondral ossification ,030304 developmental biology ,Mammals ,0303 health sciences ,Multidisciplinary ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Ossification ,Skull ,Encephalization ,Brain ,General Chemistry ,Anatomy ,Evolution of mammals ,Biological Evolution ,3100 General Physics and Astronomy ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,560 Fossils & prehistoric life ,Neurocranium ,Brain size ,medicine.symptom ,Heterochrony - Abstract
The multiple skeletal components of the skull originate asynchronously and their developmental schedule varies across amniotes. Here we present the embryonic ossification sequence of 134 species, covering all major groups of mammals and their close relatives. This comprehensive data set allows reconstruction of the heterochronic and modular evolution of the skull and the condition of the last common ancestor of mammals. We show that the mode of ossification (dermal or endochondral) unites bones into integrated evolutionary modules of heterochronic changes and imposes evolutionary constraints on cranial heterochrony. However, some skull-roof bones, such as the supraoccipital, exhibit evolutionary degrees of freedom in these constraints. Ossification timing of the neurocranium was considerably accelerated during the origin of mammals. Furthermore, association between developmental timing of the supraoccipital and brain size was identified among amniotes. We argue that cranial heterochrony in mammals has occurred in concert with encephalization but within a conserved modular organization., The skeletal components of the skull develop at different times in mammals. Here, Koyabu et al. show that the mode of bone ossification constrains the timing of bone formation and find an association between the developmental timing of the supraoccipital bone and brain size.
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- 2014
37. Different in death: Different in life? Diet and mobility correlates of irregular burials in a Roman necropolis from Bologna (Northern Italy, 1st–4th century CE)
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Thomas Kuhn, Maria Giovanna Belcastro, Valentina Mariotti, Thomas Doppler, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Marco Milella, Claudia Gerling, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Mark E. Cooper, Milella, Marco, Gerling, Claudia, Doppler, Thoma, Kuhn, Thoma, Cooper, Matthew, Mariotti, Valentina, Belcastro, Maria Giovanna, Ponce de León, Marcia S., Zollikofer, Christoph P.E., and University of Zurich
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,Context (language use) ,01 natural sciences ,Peninsula ,0601 history and archaeology ,sotopes Irregular burials Diet Mobility Roman Empire Bologna Italy ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Mobility ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,060102 archaeology ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Isotope ,06 humanities and the arts ,Archaeology ,Diet ,Roman Empire ,Northern italy ,Italy ,Geographic origin ,3302 Archeology ,1204 Archeology (arts and humanities) ,Social differences ,Irregular burial ,Bologna - Abstract
The study of migration within the Roman Empire has been a focus of the bioarchaeological and biogeochemical research during the last decade. The possible association of diet and sex, age, and funerary treatment during the 1st-4th centuries CE have been extensively explored in Britain, and Central-Southern Italy. Conversely, no knowledge is available about these processes for the North of the Italian Peninsula. In the present work we analyse a set (N = 16) of Roman inhumations from Bologna (Northern Italy, 1st-4th century CE), some of which are characterized by unusual features (prone depositions, transfixion of the skeleton by iron nails). Analysis of strontium, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon isotopes is used to test for the possible correlation between funerary treatment, geographic origin, and diet. Here we provide the first biogeochemical data for a Northern Italian Imperial sample, wherein our results show no clear association between these variables, suggesting that funerary variability, at least in the analysed context, was shaped by a variety of heterogeneous factors, and not a representation of vertical social differences or differential geographic origins.
- Published
- 2019
38. A complete skull from Dmanisi, Georgia, and the evolutionary biology of early Homo
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Abesalom Vekua, Ann Margvelashvili, G. Philip Rightmire, David Lordkipanidze, Yoel Rak, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and Marcia S. Ponce de León
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Homo naledi ,010506 paleontology ,060101 anthropology ,Multidisciplinary ,Crania ,Early Pleistocene ,biology ,Hominidae ,Lineage (evolution) ,Postcrania ,06 humanities and the arts ,biology.organism_classification ,01 natural sciences ,Paleontology ,Skull ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Homo rudolfensis ,Evolutionary biology ,medicine ,0601 history and archaeology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
A Heady Find In the past two decades, excavations at the archaeological site at Dmanisi, Georgia, have revealed hominin fossils from the earliest Pleistocene, soon after the genus Homo first dispersed beyond Africa. Lordkipanidze et al. (p. 326 ; see the cover) now describe a fossil cranium from the site. Combined with mandibular remains that had been found earlier, this find completes the first entire hominin skull from this period.
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- 2013
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39. Pandora's growing box: Inferring the evolution and development of hominin brains from endocasts
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Christoph P. E. Zollikofer and Marcia S. Ponce de León
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0303 health sciences ,biology ,Hominidae ,Ontogeny ,Zoology ,General Medicine ,biology.organism_classification ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Human evolution ,Neuroimaging ,Neurocranium ,Evolutionary biology ,Anthropology ,Paleoanthropology ,medicine ,Paleoneurology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Endocast ,030304 developmental biology - Abstract
The brain of modern humans is an evolutionary and developmental outlier: At birth, it has the size of an adult chimpanzee brain and expands by a factor of 2 during the first postnatal year. Large neonatal brain size and rapid initial growth contrast with slow maturation, which extends well into adolescence. When, how, and why this peculiar pattern of brain ontogeny evolved and how it is correlated with structural changes in the brain are key questions of paleoanthropology. Because brains and their ontogenies do not fossilize, indirect evidence from fossil hominin endocasts needs to be combined with evidence from modern humans and our closest living relatives, the great apes. New fossil finds permit a denser sampling of hominin endocranial morphologies along ontogenetic and evolutionary time lines. New brain imaging methods provide the basis for quantifying endocast-brain relationships and tracking endocranial and brain growth and development noninvasively. Combining this evidence with ever-more detailed knowledge about actual and fossil "brain genes," we are now beginning to understand how brain ontogeny and structure were modified during human evolution and what the adaptive significance of these modifications may have been.
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- 2013
40. Reply to Mitteroecker and Fischer: Developmental solutions to the obstetrical dilemma are not Gouldian spandrels
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Marcia S. Ponce de León, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Alik Huseynov, and University of Zurich
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10207 Department of Anthropology ,0106 biological sciences ,Adult ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Pelvis ,03 medical and health sciences ,Visual guidance ,Humans ,Animals ,Letters ,Female pelvis ,030304 developmental biology ,Statistical hypothesis testing ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,0303 health sciences ,Multidisciplinary ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Replicate ,Biological Evolution ,Obstetrics ,Variation (linguistics) ,Obstetrical dilemma ,Finches ,Psychology ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
In our study on human pelvic development (1), we propose two hypotheses explaining the narrowing of the female pelvis during postreproductive life. Hypothesis 1 proposes ultimate, evolutionary causes, reflecting selective pressures acting on postreproductive life. Hypothesis 2 proposes proximate, developmental causes, reflecting reduced estrogen levels during postreproductive life. Mitteroecker and Fischer (2) replicate one part of our study—that concerning adult pelvic development—with an independent dataset, taking into account age effects on pelvic shape variation not considered in their earlier study (3). (Note that the smoothing functions used in our study only serve for visual guidance, not for statistical testing.) Rather than testing our hypotheses (1) with new … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: marcia{at}aim.uzh.ch. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
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- 2016
41. Development of Pelvic Sexual Dimorphism in Hylobatids: Testing the Obstetric Constraints Hypothesis
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Christoph P E, Zollikofer, Marc, Scherrer, and Marcia S, Ponce de León
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Male ,Sex Characteristics ,Species Specificity ,Pregnancy ,Animals ,Body Size ,Hylobates ,Female ,Sexual Maturation ,Pelvic Bones ,Pelvis - Abstract
Pelvic sexual dimorphism in primates is typically seen as the result of female-specific adaptations to obstetric constraints, which arise from the tight fit between the neonate head and the maternal pelvis. However, it remains debated to which extent pelvic dimorphism is a correlate of obstetric constraints, of body size dimorphism, and/or of other factors. Also, little is known on how pelvic dimorphism develops. Here we use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to address these questions in two hylobatid species, Hylobates lar and Symphalangus syndactylus. These species differ markedly in body size, but within each species, there is only little body size dimorphism. Results show that the neonates of H. lar are large compared to the maternal pelvis, resulting in high cephalopelvic proportions and substantial obstetric constraints. Pelvic sexual dimorphism is moderate but significant: During puberty, females develop a more capacious pelvic inlet than males, while overall pelvic size is similar in both sexes. S. syndactylus has substantially larger pelves than H. lar, but neonates are similar in size to those of H. lar. Cephalopelvic proportions are thus low, and there are no obstetric constraints. Pelvic sexual dimorphism is absent. Overall, these data indicate that pelvic sexual dimorphism in hylobatids reflects obstetric constraints. Anat Rec, 300:859-869, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Published
- 2016
42. Development of Modular Organization in the Chimpanzee Pelvis
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Alik, Huseynov, Marcia S, Ponce de León, and Christoph P E, Zollikofer
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Male ,Sex Characteristics ,Pan troglodytes ,Animals ,Female ,Pelvic Bones ,Biological Evolution - Abstract
The bony pelvis of primates is a composite structure serving a variety of functions, and exhibiting a complex pattern of modularity and integration. Still little is known, however, about how patterns of modularity and integration arise, and how they change throughout ontogeny. Here we study the ontogeny of modularity and integration in developmental and functional units of the pelvis of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. We use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to quantify pelvic shape change from late fetal stages to adulthood, and to track changes in patterns of covariation within and among pelvic regions. Our results show that both developmental and functional units of the pelvis exhibit significant levels of modularity throughout ontogeny. Modularity of developmental units (ilium, ischium, and pubis) decreases with increasing age, whereas modularity of functional units tends to increase. We suggest that the decreasing modularity and increasing integration of developmental units reflects their gradual fusion. In contrast, increasing modularity of functional pelvic units likely reflects changing functional demands during an individual's lifetime. Overall, ontogenetic changes in patterns of modularity and integration imply that natural selection could act differently on each module, either developmental or functional, at different stages of ontogeny. This further implies that adult patterns of covariation in the pelvis provide only limited information about its evolvability. Anat Rec, 300:675-686, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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- 2016
43. Developmental evidence for obstetric adaptation of the human female pelvis
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Alik Huseynov, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Christian J. Kellenberger, Dominic Gascho, Ricarda Hinzpeter, Walter Coudyzer, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, University of Zurich, and Huseynov, Alik
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0301 basic medicine ,10207 Department of Anthropology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Physiology ,340 Law ,Fertility ,610 Medicine & health ,pelvis ,Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Fetal Stage ,evolution ,medicine ,sex steroids ,Bipedalism ,development ,Pelvis ,media_common ,Gynecology ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,Multidisciplinary ,obstetrical dilemma ,10042 Clinic for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology ,Biological Sciences ,10218 Institute of Legal Medicine ,Sexual dimorphism ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,10036 Medical Clinic ,Obstetrical dilemma ,Developmental plasticity ,Adaptation - Abstract
The bony pelvis of adult humans exhibits marked sexual dimorphism, which is traditionally interpreted in the framework of the "obstetrical dilemma" hypothesis: Giving birth to large-brained/large-bodied babies requires a wide pelvis, whereas efficient bipedal locomotion requires a narrow pelvis. This hypothesis has been challenged recently on biomechanical, metabolic, and biocultural grounds, so that it remains unclear which factors are responsible for sex-specific differences in adult pelvic morphology. Here we address this issue from a developmental perspective. We use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to analyze changes in pelvic morphology from late fetal stages to adulthood in a known-age/known-sex forensic/clinical sample. Results show that, until puberty, female and male pelves exhibit only moderate sexual dimorphism and follow largely similar developmental trajectories. With the onset of puberty, however, the female trajectory diverges substantially from the common course, resulting in rapid expansion of obstetrically relevant pelvic dimensions up to the age of 25-30 y. From 40 y onward females resume a mode of pelvic development similar to males, resulting in significant reduction of obstetric dimensions. This complex developmental trajectory is likely linked to the pubertal rise and premenopausal fall of estradiol levels and results in the obstetrically most adequate pelvic morphology during the time of maximum female fertility. The evidence that hormones mediate female pelvic development and morphology supports the view that solutions of the obstetrical dilemma depend not only on selection and adaptation but also on developmental plasticity as a response to ecological/nutritional factors during a female's lifetime.
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- 2016
44. Metopic suture of Taung (Australopithecus africanus) and its implications for hominin brain evolution
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Marcia S. Ponce de León, Naoki Morimoto, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, and Dean Falk
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Fibrous joint ,0303 health sciences ,060101 anthropology ,Multidisciplinary ,Hominidae ,Ossification ,06 humanities and the arts ,Anatomy ,Biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Anterior fontanelle ,03 medical and health sciences ,Skull ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,medicine ,0601 history and archaeology ,Bipedalism ,medicine.symptom ,Australopithecus africanus ,Endocast ,030304 developmental biology - Abstract
The type specimen for Australopithecus africanus (Taung) includes a natural endocast that reproduces most of the external morphology of the right cerebral hemisphere and a fragment of fossilized face that articulates with the endocast. Despite the fact that Taung died between 3 and 4 y of age, the endocast reproduces a small triangular-shaped remnant of the anterior fontanelle, from which a clear metopic suture (MS) courses rostrally along the midline [Hrdlička A (1925) Am J Phys Anthropol 8:379–392]. Here we describe and interpret this feature of Taung in light of comparative fossil and actualistic data on the timing of MS closure. In great apes, the MS normally fuses shortly after birth, such that unfused MS similar to Taung’s are rare. In humans, however, MS fuses well after birth, and partially or unfused MS are frequent. In gracile fossil adult hominins that lived between ∼3.0 and 1.5 million y ago, MS are also relatively frequent, indicating that the modern human-like pattern of late MS fusion may have become adaptive during early hominin evolution. Selective pressures favoring delayed fusion might have resulted from three aspects of perinatal ontogeny: ( i ) the difficulty of giving birth to large-headed neonates through birth canals that were reconfigured for bipedalism (the “obstetric dilemma”), ( ii ) high early postnatal brain growth rates, and ( iii ) reorganization and expansion of the frontal neocortex. Overall, our data indicate that hominin brain evolution occurred within a complex network of fetopelvic constraints, which required modification of frontal neurocranial ossification patterns.
- Published
- 2012
45. Skull 5 from Dmanisi: Descriptive anatomy, comparative studies, and evolutionary significance
- Author
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Marcia S. Ponce de León, David Lordkipanidze, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Ann Margvelashvili, and G. Philip Rightmire
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Male ,Georgia (Republic) ,Supraorbital ridge ,03 medical and health sciences ,Homo rudolfensis ,medicine ,Animals ,0601 history and archaeology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Phylogeny ,060101 anthropology ,biology ,Fossils ,Skull ,Hominidae ,06 humanities and the arts ,Anatomy ,biology.organism_classification ,Biological Evolution ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Homo habilis ,Homo sapiens ,Anthropology ,Homo erectus ,Australopithecus afarensis ,Paranthropus boisei - Abstract
A fifth hominin skull (cranium D4500 and mandible D2600) from Dmanisi is massively constructed, with a large face and a very small brain. Traits documented for the first time in a basal member of the Homo clade include the uniquely low ratio of endocranial volume to basicranial width, reduced vertex height, angular vault profile, smooth nasal sill coupled with a long and sloping maxillary clivus, elongated palate, and tall mandibular corpus. The convex clivus and receding symphysis of skull 5 produce a muzzle-like form similar to that of Australopithecus afarensis. While the Dmanisi cranium is very robust, differing from OH 13, OH 24, and KNM-ER 1813, it resembles Homo habilis specimens in the “squared off” outline of its maxilla in facial view, maxillary sulcus, rounded and receding zygomatic arch, and flexed zygomaticoalveolar pillar. These characters distinguish early Homo from species of Australopithecus and Paranthropus. Skull 5 is unlike Homo rudolfensis cranium KNM-ER 1470. Although it appears generally primitive, skull 5 possesses a bar-like supraorbital torus, elongated temporal squama, occipital transverse torus, and petrotympanic traits considered to be derived for Homo erectus. As a group, the Dmanisi crania and mandibles display substantial anatomical and metric variation. A key question is whether the fossils document age-related growth and sex dimorphism within a single population, or whether two (or more) distinct taxa may be present at the site. We use the coefficient of variation to compare Dmanisi with Paranthropus boisei, H. erectus, and recent Homo sapiens, finding few signals that the Dmanisi sample is excessively variable in comparison to these reference taxa. Using cranial measurements and principal components analysis, we explore the proposal that the Dmanisi skulls can be grouped within a regionally diverse hypodigm for H. erectus. Our results provide only weak support for this hypothesis. Finally, we consider all available morphological and paleobiological evidence in an attempt to clarify the phyletic relationship of Dmanisi to Homo species evolving >2.0 to 1.0 Ma.
- Published
- 2015
46. Skeletal correlates of quadrupedalism and climbing in the anthropoid forelimb: Implications for inferring locomotion in Miocene catarrhines
- Author
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Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Thomas R. Rein, and Terry Harrison
- Subjects
Male ,Arboreal locomotion ,Humeral torsion ,Ulna ,Models, Biological ,Finger Phalanges ,Phylogenetics ,Quadrupedalism ,Catarrhini ,Forelimb ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Least-Squares Analysis ,Phylogeny ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Pliopithecus ,biology ,Phylogenetic tree ,Fossils ,Paleontology ,Haplorhini ,Anatomy ,Humerus ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Anthropology ,Climbing ,Female ,Locomotion - Abstract
Several well-known Miocene catarrhines, including Proconsul heseloni, have been inferred to combine quadrupedal walking in an arboreal substrate with a significant amount of climbing during locomotion. The degree to which some of these species were adapted to perform these behaviors is not fully understood due to the mosaic of 'ape-like' and 'monkey-like' traits identified in the forelimb. Given these unique combinations of forelimb features in the fossils, we report on forelimb traits that should be emphasized when investigating skeletal adaptation to quadrupedalism (defined in this manuscript as symmetrical gait movement on horizontal supports, excluding knuckle-walking) and climbing (including both vertical climbing and clambering). We investigate the correspondence between: 1) quadrupedalism and two well-known forelimb traits, humeral torsion and olecranon process length, and 2) climbing and phalangeal curvature. We also test the degree of phylogenetic signal in these relationships using phylogenetic generalized least-squares and branch length transformation methods in order to determine the models of best-fit. We present models that can be used to predict proportions of quadrupedalism and climbing in extant and extinct anthropoid taxa. Each trait-behavior correlation is significant and characterized by an absence of phylogenetic signal. Thus, we employ models assuming a star phylogeny to predict locomotor proportions. The climbing model based on phalangeal curvature and a proxy for size provides the most accurate predictions of behavior across anthropoids. The two quadrupedalism models are less accurate, but distinguish highly quadrupedal species from those that are not. Predictive equations based on these traits support the inference that P. heseloni performed a high proportion of quadrupedalism with a significant climbing component. The degree of phalangeal curvature measured in Pliopithecus vindobonensis predicts that this Miocene catarrhine species performed a proportion of climbing similar to Proconsul, while humeral torsion and olecranon process length provide conflicting inferences of quadrupedal locomotion in this species.
- Published
- 2011
47. Femoral Morphology and Femoropelvic Musculoskeletal Anatomy of Humans and Great Apes: A Comparative Virtopsy Study
- Author
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Naoki Morimoto, Takeshi Nishimura, Marcia S. Ponce de León, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
- Subjects
Histology ,Pan troglodytes ,Vastus lateralis muscle ,Gorilla ,Biology ,Pelvis ,Pongo pygmaeus ,Virtopsy ,biology.animal ,Muscle attachment ,Animals ,Humans ,Whole Body Imaging ,Femur ,Muscle, Skeletal ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Gorilla gorilla ,Osteology ,Anatomy ,Comparative anatomy ,musculoskeletal system ,Adaptation, Physiological ,Homo sapiens ,Autopsy ,Tomography, X-Ray Computed ,Biotechnology - Abstract
The proximal femoral morphology of fossil hominins is routinely interpreted in terms of muscular topography and associated locomotor modes. However, the detailed correspondence between hard and soft tissue structures in the proximal femoral region of extant great apes is relatively unknown, because dissection protocols typically do not comprise in-depth osteological descriptions. Here, we use computed tomography and virtopsy (virtual dissection) for non-invasive examination of the femoropelvic musculoskeletal anatomy in Pan troglodytes, P. paniscus, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus, and Homo sapiens. Specifically, we analyze the topographic relationship between muscle attachment sites and surface structures of the proximal femoral shaft such as the lateral spiral pilaster. Our results show that the origin of the vastus lateralis muscle is anterior to the insertion of gluteus maximus in all examined great ape specimens and humans. In gorillas and orangutans, the insertion of gluteus maximus is on the inferior (anterolateral) side of the lateral spiral pilaster. In chimpanzees, however, the maximus insertion is on its superior (posteromedial) side, similar to the situation in modern humans. These findings support the hypothesis that chimpanzees and humans exhibit a shared-derived musculoskeletal topography of the proximal femoral region, irrespective of their different locomotor modes, whereas gorillas and orangutans represent the primitive condition. Caution is thus warranted when inferring locomotor behavior from the surface topography of the proximal femur of fossil hominins, as the morphology of this region may contain a strong phyletic signal that tends to blur locomotor adaptation.
- Published
- 2011
48. A bidirectional interface growth model for cranial interosseous suture morphogenesis
- Author
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John David Weissmann and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer
- Subjects
Histology ,Morphogenesis ,Cell Biology ,Anatomy ,Growth model ,Biology ,Simulation system ,Fractal dimension ,Key factors ,Suture (anatomy) ,Natural distribution ,Biological system ,Molecular Biology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Developmental Biology ,Morphogen - Abstract
Interosseous sutures exhibit highly variable patterns of interdigitation and corrugation. Recent research has identified fundamental molecular mechanisms of suture formation, and computer models have been used to simulate suture morphogenesis. However, the role of bone strain in the development of complex sutures is largely unknown, and measuring suture morphologies beyond the evaluation of fractal dimensions remains a challenge. Here we propose a morphogenetic model of suture formation, which is based on the paradigm of Laplacian interface growth. Computer simulations of suture morphogenesis under various boundary conditions generate a wide variety of synthetic sutural forms. Their morphologies are quantified with a combination of Fourier analysis and principal components analysis, and compared with natural morphological variation in an ontogenetic sample of human interparietal suture lines. Morphometric analyses indicate that natural sutural shapes exhibit a complex distribution in morphospace. The distribution of synthetic sutures closely matches the natural distribution. In both natural and synthetic systems, sutural complexity increases during morphogenesis. Exploration of the parameter space of the simulation system indicates that variation in strain and/or morphogen sensitivity and viscosity of sutural tissue may be key factors in generating the large variability of natural suture complexity.
- Published
- 2011
49. Exploring Femoral Diaphyseal Shape Variation in Wild and Captive Chimpanzees by Means of Morphometric Mapping: A Test of Wolff's Law
- Author
-
Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Marcia S. Ponce de León, and Naoki Morimoto
- Subjects
Male ,Histology ,Pan troglodytes ,Ontogeny ,Long bone ,Animals, Wild ,Motor Activity ,Biology ,Models, Biological ,Bone remodeling ,Weight-Bearing ,medicine ,Animals ,Femur ,Wolff's law ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Anthropometry ,X-Ray Microtomography ,Anatomy ,Adaptation, Physiological ,Biomechanical Phenomena ,Diaphysis ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ,Female ,Cortical bone ,Bone Remodeling ,Diaphyses ,Adaptation ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Long bone shafts (diaphyses) serve as load-bearing structures during locomotion, implying a close relationship between diaphyseal form and its locomotor function. Diaphyseal form-function relationships, however, are complex, as they are mediated by various factors such as developmental programs, evolutionary adaptation, and functional adaptation through bone remodeling during an individual's lifetime. The effects of the latter process (“Wolff's Law”) are best assessed by comparing diaphyseal morphologies of conspecific individuals under different locomotor regimes. Here we use morphometric mapping (MM) to analyze the morphology of entire femoral diaphyses in an ontogenetic series of wild and captive common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes). MM reveals patterns of variation of diaphyseal structural and functional properties, which cannot be recognized with conventional cross-sectional analysis and/or geometric morphometric methods. Our data show that diaphyseal shape, cortical bone distribution and inferred cross-sectional biomechanical properties vary both along ontogenetic trajectories and independent of ontogeny. Mean ontogenetic trajectories of wild and captive chimpanzees, however, were found to be statistically identical. This indicates that the basic developmental program of the diaphysis is not altered by different loading conditions. Significant differences in diaphyseal shape between groups could only be identified in the distal diaphysis, where wild chimpanzees exhibit higher mediolateral relative to anteroposterior cortical bone thickness. Overall, thus, the hypothesis that Wolff's Law predominantly governs long bone diaphyseal morphology is rejected. Anat Rec, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
- Published
- 2011
50. Heterochrony and developmental modularity of cranial osteogenesis in lipotyphlan mammals
- Author
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Kenneth C. Catania, Sen-ichi Oda, Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, Motokazu Ando, Gen Suwa, Daisuke Koyabu, Hideki Endo, Kazuhiko Koyasu, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Christian Mitgutsch, University of Zurich, and Koyabu, D
- Subjects
10207 Department of Anthropology ,0106 biological sciences ,skull ,lcsh:Evolution ,Zoology ,integration ,10125 Paleontological Institute and Museum ,Biology ,phylogeny ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,1309 Developmental Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,1311 Genetics ,heterochrony ,lcsh:QH359-425 ,embryology ,Genetics ,medicine ,Micro ct ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,Modularity (networks) ,300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology ,Ossification ,Research ,Eulipotyphla ,ossification ,Skull ,1105 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,560 Fossils & prehistoric life ,Evolutionary biology ,medicine.symptom ,Heterochrony ,micro CT ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
Background Here we provide the most comprehensive study to date on the cranial ossification sequence in Lipotyphla, the group which includes shrews, moles and hedgehogs. This unique group, which encapsulates diverse ecological modes, such as terrestrial, subterranean, and aquatic lifestyles, is used to examine the evolutionary lability of cranial osteogenesis and to investigate the modularity of development. Results An acceleration of developmental timing of the vomeronasal complex has occurred in the common ancestor of moles. However, ossification of the nasal bone has shifted late in the more terrestrial shrew mole. Among the lipotyphlans, sequence heterochrony shows no significant association with modules derived from developmental origins (that is, neural crest cells vs. mesoderm derived parts) or with those derived from ossification modes (that is, dermal vs. endochondral ossification). Conclusions The drastic acceleration of vomeronasal development in moles is most likely coupled with the increased importance of the rostrum for digging and its use as a specialized tactile surface, both fossorial adaptations. The late development of the nasal in shrew moles, a condition also displayed by hedgehogs and shrews, is suggested to be the result of an ecological reversal to terrestrial lifestyle and reduced functional importance of the rostrum. As an overall pattern in lipotyphlans, our results reject the hypothesis that ossification sequence heterochrony occurs in modular fashion when considering the developmental patterns of the skull. We suggest that shifts in the cranial ossification sequence are not evolutionarily constrained by developmental origins or mode of ossification.
- Published
- 2011
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