Craniofacial Biomechanics of Primates

对于解剖学家和古人类学家来说，是什么决定了人类和我们的亲戚的头部和面部区域的大小和形状，这一直是一个重要的研究领域。海兰德的研究小组的方法是沿着猴子的脸骨描绘表面骨张力的模式。然后，结合各种解剖和生理数据，利用应变数据制定和检验各种面骨的加载模式的不同假设。其中一个主要目标是确定在不同的咀嚼和咬食行为中，给定的骨头是否弯曲、扭曲和/或剪切，有多少，以及在哪个方向。这些数据可以让我们深入了解灵长类动物面部的某些方面是否是为了消散咀嚼力而进行的结构适应。这项工作将有助于解释为什么灵长类动物（包括人类）的面部骨骼看起来是这样的。这对于人类和非人类灵长类动物化石记录的功能性和适应性解释尤为重要。此外，通过表征面部骨骼的机械环境，这些数据可以深入了解面部骨骼如何以及为什么对各种改变的机械应力做出反应，从而有助于更好地理解骨骼维持机械强度的相关过程。

What accounts for the size and shape of the head and face region of humans and our relatives continues to be a critical area of study for anatomists and paleoanthropologists. The approach of Hylander's group has been to characterize patterns of surface bone strain along the face bones of a monkey. Then, in combination with various sorts of anatomical and physiological data, the strain data are used to formulate and test different hyptheses about loading patterns in various facial bones. One of the primary goals is to determine whether, how much, and in which direction a given bone is bent, twisted and/ or sheared during different chewing and biting behaviors. These data the allow some insight as to whether certain aspects of the primate face are structural adaptations to dissipate chewing forces. This work will help explain why primate (including human) facial bones look the way they do. This is particularly important for formulating functional and adaptive interpretation of the fossil record of both human and nonhuman primates. Moreover, by characterizing the mechanical environment of facial bones, these data may provide insights into how and why facial bones respond to various sorts of altered mechanical stress, and thereby contribute to a better understanding of processes related to skeletal maintenance of mechanical strength.