Functional morphology of the human chin
作者:
David J. Daegling,
期刊:
Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews
(WILEY Available online 1993)
卷期:
Volume 1,
issue 5
页码: 170-177
ISSN:1060-1538
年代: 1993
DOI:10.1002/evan.1360010506
出版商: John Wiley&Sons, Inc.
关键词: Biomechanics;adaptation;mastication;mandible
数据来源: WILEY
摘要:
AbstractThe protruding chin is an attribute that defines modernHomo sapiensto the exclusion of all other primates, including fossil hominids. The functional significance of the chin has been contemplated for most of the 20th century, but as yet no compelling functional argument for its evolution has withstood careful scrutiny. Consequently, the human chin is often cited as an example of a nonadaptive trait. Past attempts to explain the chin in a functional or mechanical context have failed, largely as a result of an incomplete understanding of in vivo masticatory biomechanics. When the morphology of the chin is considered in light of experimental data on mastication, its evolution can be interpreted as a consequence of recent changes in mandibular proportions that have altered the relative importance of different masticatory stresses. Hypotheses proposing that chin morphology is the result of sexual selection or spatial constraints may be untestable. As with arguments that posit no functional role for the chin, the credibility of these hypotheses has depended, to a large degree, on the refutation of previous biomechanical explanations.
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