[Contribution of radiological technics to the study of the mandibular canal. Application to human fossils and comparison with modern man and Pongidae].

Fossil mandibles from the "La Chapelle-aux-Saints" Man and Cro-Magnon "old man" are considered to be representative of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon era. Radiographic studies of such mandibles - including C. T. Scan and panoramic views in common use in maxillofacial surgery - allowed the authors to make useful comments: the mandibular canals are nearly similar to those in Modern Man and quite different from those in Pongidae; the imaging was of adequate quality for a good evaluation of fossil internal structures.