Craniofacial Sexual Dimorphism in Primates

大多数雄性和雌性灵长类动物，包括人类祖先，在头骨的解剖结构上表现出实质性的差异（二态性）。识别二态性对鉴定化石记录中的物种具有重要意义。此外，由于二态性与现存灵长类动物的社会行为变化密切相关，它通常被用来支持关于灭绝物种，特别是人类祖先及其近亲的社会行为的主张。然而，目前关于现存灵长类动物颅骨二态性的资料很少，以及这种二态性是否可以用来重建灭绝物种的社会行为。本研究将收集一组精心挑选的现存灵长类动物的数据，以记录现存灵长类动物和人类二态性的大小和模式，并评估近亲化石样本的变异是否可以归因于二态性，而不是物种之间发生的变异。这项研究还将评估颅面二态性是否可以用来推断他们的社会行为。这项研究将为评估人类谱系的物种多样性，重建人类及其近亲进化过程中发生的行为变化提供强有力的数据基础。

Most male and female primates, including human ancestors, show substantial differences (dimorphism) in the anatomy of the skull. The recognition of dimorphism is important for identifying species in the fossil record. Additionally, because dimorphism is strongly associated with variation in social behavior in living primates, it is used commonly to support claims about the social behavior of extinct species, especially human ancestors and their closest relatives. However, there is currently very little information documenting cranial dimorphism among living primates, and whether such dimorphism can be used to reconstruct the social behavior of extinct species. This study will gather data on a carefully selected set of living primates to document the magnitude and pattern of dimorphism in living primates and humans, and evaluate whether variation in samples of closely related fossils can be attributed to dimorphism, as opposed to variation that occurs between species. The study will also evaluate whether craniofacial dimorphism can be used to infer aspects of their social behavior. This study will provide a strong data base for evaluating the diversity of species in the human lineage, and for reconstructing the changes in behavior that occurred in the evolution of humans and their closest relatives.