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modern variation and evolutionary change in the hominin eye orbit

modern variation and evolutionary change in the hominin eye orbit

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length of <strong>the</strong> anterior <strong>and</strong> middle cranial fossae decreases <strong>in</strong> association with an <strong>in</strong>crease<strong>in</strong> relative length <strong>and</strong> height of <strong>the</strong> face. These cranial fossae cont<strong>in</strong>ue to shorten afterneural growth is complete, <strong>and</strong> facial height <strong>and</strong> length cont<strong>in</strong>ue to <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> associationwith facial projection (Lieberman, McBratney, Krovitz, 2002). By contrast, <strong>the</strong> facestays retracted beneath <strong>the</strong> anterior cranial base <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> neurocranium rema<strong>in</strong>s highlyglobular dur<strong>in</strong>g ontogeny <strong>in</strong> Homo sapiens.Cranial globularity is a unique feature of <strong>modern</strong> human skulls <strong>and</strong> is largely <strong>the</strong>result of <strong>in</strong>creased cranial base flexion <strong>and</strong> <strong>change</strong>s <strong>in</strong> relative size of certa<strong>in</strong> bra<strong>in</strong>structures. Expansion of <strong>the</strong> frontal <strong>and</strong> temporal lobes of <strong>the</strong> bra<strong>in</strong> are an importantcomponent of this flexion, as <strong>the</strong>y act to leng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> anterior cranial base <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>fluence<strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> anterior <strong>and</strong> middle cranial fossae, respectively (Lieberman, McBratney,Krovitz, 2002).In addition to an <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> relative size of <strong>the</strong>se basicranial components,anatomically <strong>modern</strong> Homo sapiens are characterized by a dist<strong>in</strong>ct forward <strong>and</strong> lateralexpansion of <strong>the</strong> anterior portion of <strong>the</strong> middle cranial fossa relative to <strong>the</strong> optic <strong>and</strong>maxillary nerve foram<strong>in</strong>ae compared to archaic Homo sapiens <strong>and</strong> Homo erectus (Bastir,et al. 2008). As a result of this anterior movement of <strong>the</strong> middle cranial fossa relative to<strong>the</strong>se nerve foram<strong>in</strong>ae, <strong>the</strong> maxillary tuberosities <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>orbit</strong>s are also shifted anteriorly<strong>in</strong> relation to basicranial <strong>and</strong> neurocranial structures (Bastir et al. 2008).Forward movement of <strong>the</strong> middle cranial fossa also correlates with forwardprojection of <strong>the</strong> greater sphenoid w<strong>in</strong>gs, which shift <strong>the</strong> posterior maxillary planeanteriorly, rotat<strong>in</strong>g it clockwise when viewed laterally from <strong>the</strong> right side (Bastir et al.2008; McCarthy & Lieberman, 2001). The vertical boundary of <strong>the</strong> posterior maxillary17

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