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Bioclimatic and masticatory influences on human cranial diversity verified by analysis of 3D morphometric homologous models

Matsumura, Hirofumi
; 
Friess, Martin
; 
Kouchi, Makiko
; 
Tanijiri, Toyohisa
; ; 
Garcia, Gisselle
; 
Hanihara, Tsunehiko
; 
Moiseyev, Vyacheslav
; 
Suzuki, Daisuke
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2024-11-04
Submitted Date
2024-07-11
Subject Terms
human crania
climate
masticatory
adaptation
3D homologous
morphometric
biological anthropology
skeleton
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Abstract
This study analyzes the effects of bioclimate and masticatory factors on the regional variability of human cranial forms across 150 ethnic groups worldwide. Morphometric variables were generated using principal component analysis applied to 3D homologous models. Relationships between cranial form and bioclimate (temperature and precipitation) and masticatory factors (infratemporal space) were tested considering sampling bias due to past population movements during the late Pleistocene and/or early- to mid-Holocene. Cranial size correlated with thermal conditions, consistent with Bergmann's rule. The length/breadth proportion of the neurocranium aligned with Allen's rule for thermal adaptation, while no relationship with masticatory stress was found. Facial form responded to either climate or masticatory conditions, although the primary factor was unclear due to the high correlation between stresses. However, masticatory stress was identified as an equally significant factor behind facial flatness in cold regions, else than the effect of Allen's rule. High narrowness of nasal and orbital openings correlated significantly with cold temperatures and cranial size, suggesting not only functional but also allometric effect. This study demonstrated the complexity of environmental influences on cranial form diversity, nonetheless suggested reduction of selective pressure on cranial form caused by natural environmental stress due to the development of civilization.
Citation
Matsumura, H., Friess, M., Kouchi, M. et al. Bioclimatic and masticatory influences on human cranial diversity verified by analysis of 3D morphometric homologous models. Sci Rep 14, 26663 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-76715-0
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
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Scientific Reports
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http://hdl.handle.net/10141/623296
DOI
10.1038/s41598-024-76715-0
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Journal Article
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Copyright © The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. The attached file is the published version of the article.
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2045-2322
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2045-2322
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