Developmental response to cold stress in cranial morphology of _Rattus_: implications for the interpretation of climatic adaptation in fossil hominins

Rae, Todd C.; Viðarsdóttir, Una Strand; Jeffery, Nathan; Steegmann, A. Theodore

Abstract

Adaptation to climate occupies a central position in biological anthropology. The demonstrable relationship between temperature and morphology in extant primates (including humans) forms the basis of the interpretation of the Pleistocene hominin Homo neanderthalensis as a cold-adapted species. There are contradictory signals, however, in the pattern of primate craniofacial changes associated with climatic conditions. To determine the direction and extent of craniofacial change associated with temperature, and to understand the proximate mechanisms underlying cold adaptations in vertebrates in general, dry crania from previous experiments on cold- and warm-reared rats were investigated using computed tomography scanning and three-dimensional digitization of cranial landmarks. Aspects of internal and external cranial morphology were compared using standard statistical and geometric morphometric techniques. The results suggest that the developmental response to cold stress produces subtle but significant changes in facial shape, and a relative decrease in the volume of the maxillary sinuses (and nasal cavity), both of which are independent of the size of the skull or postcranium. These changes are consistent with comparative studies of temperate climate primates, but contradict previous interpretations of cranial morphology of Pleistocene Hominini.

Citation

Rae, T. C., Viðarsdóttir, U. S., Jeffery, N., & Steegmann, A. T. (2006). Developmental response to cold stress in cranial morphology of _Rattus_: implications for the interpretation of climatic adaptation in fossil hominins. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1601), 2605-2610. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3629

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2006
• Deposit Date: Mar 2, 2009
• Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Print ISSN: 0962-8452
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-2954
• Publisher: The Royal Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 273
• Issue: 1601
• Pages: 2605-2610
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3629
• Keywords: Cranial pneumatization, Paranasal sinuses, Geometric morphometrics.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1577182