Resumen

SARDI, Marina L et al. Covariación ontogénica en el endocráneo de pan troglodytes. Rev Arg Antrop Biol [online]. 2014, vol.16, n.2, pp.79-91. ISSN 1514-7991.

Several studies propose that the neurocranium in Homo sapiens is an integrated structure, being the growing brain the factor that influences the vault and the base morphology. The goal of this study is to assess endocranial ontogenetic covariation in Pan troglodytes, another encephalized primate. Fifty-two 3D reconstructions derived from computed tomographies of adult and subadult specimens were analyzed. After segmentation of the endocranial volumes, twenty-seven landmarks were registered. Through their configuration, Centroid size and Procrustes coordinates were obtained, and Principal Components Analysis, regression, correlation, ANOVA and Goodall's F-test were performed in order to evaluate size and shape changes against age and allometries. The results indicated that significant morphological ontogenetic shape changes are highly integrated and they occur up to the late ontogeny: elongation of the vault and the base, separation of the foramen magnum and the cribiform plate, retroflection of the basicranial angle, and descent of the temporal poles. By means of PLS analysis, a significant covariation between the vault and the base was obtained. However, when the allometric effect was adjusted, the covariation became non-significant, as occurs in Homo sapiens. This suggests that the ontogenetic increase in the endocranial volume -related to the growing brain- may be a common integrative factor between the vault and the base in both species. Nonetheless, different facial structures are also likely to promote variation and covariation in the chimpanzee's endocranium.

Palabras clave : Chimpanzee; Computed tomography; Integration; Brain.

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