Dissertation Research: The Hominid Temporal Bone: Ontogeny and Phylogenetic Implications

该项目的主要目的是研究人类和非人类灵长类动物颞骨的生长和发育。这将为解释原始人类化石记录的数据提供背景，从而进一步了解人类的进化史。颞骨，即头骨上的耳朵，对人类学家来说很重要，原因有两个：1)它是一个高度复杂的结构，因此具有很高的信息密度。除了包含听力和平衡器官外，颞骨还作为头骨的一部分与下颌骨相连，因此在咀嚼和饮食中起着重要作用。这种复杂性导致了物种之间的高度变异。因此，颞骨对我们理解化石标本之间的关系至关重要。颞骨的岩质部分是人体密度最大的部位之一。因此，这部分骨骼是最有可能成为化石的部分之一，因此在化石记录中也有代表性。对这块骨头的发育及其伴随结构的研究将为原始人化石记录提供一个额外的信息维度，而不仅仅是对成年形态的研究。

The primary objective of this project is to study the growth and development of the temporal bone in humans and non-human primates. This will provide the background for interpreting the data from the hominid fossil record thereby allowing for further understanding of the evolutionary history of humans. The temporal bone, the bone of the skull housing the ear, is important to anthropologists for two reasons: 1) It is a highly complex structure and thus has a high information density. Aside from containing the organs for hearing and balance, the temporal bone serves as the portion of the skull that articulates with the mandible and thus plays a major role in chewing and diet. This complexity leads to a high degree of variability among species. Therefore the temporal bone is crucial to our understanding of the relationships of fossil specimens. 2) The petrous portion of the temporal bone is one of the densest areas of the body. This part of the skeleton is thus one of the likliest to fossilize and thereby be represented in the fossil record. The examination of development of this bone and its concomitant structures will provide an additional dimension of information to the hominid fossil record beyond that provided by examination of the adult forms.