Smith R J
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1981 Jul;55(3):323-9. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330550306.
Cranial and dental measurements are taken on 253 adult female primates from 32 species. Regression equations are calculated to determine allometric relationships between anterior tooth size, posterior tooth size, and body size. When cranial length or skull length is used as the measure of general size, the results of the equations differ from when body weight is the reference dimension. Similarly, using different definitions of posterior tooth size (such as mandibular second molar length and maxillary postcanine area) alters results substantially. The same occurs with different definitions of anterior tooth size. It has been common in studies of primate dental allometry to generalize from the specific variables measured to broad functional interpretations. However, highly correlated variables cannot be substituted one for another in allometric analyses without important changes in the results of the equation. Interpretation of allometric data is more highly restricted to the precise variables measured in a particular study than has been generally recognized.
对来自32个物种的253只成年雌性灵长类动物进行了颅骨和牙齿测量。计算回归方程以确定前牙大小、后牙大小与身体大小之间的异速生长关系。当使用颅长或头骨长度作为总体大小的衡量标准时，方程的结果与以体重作为参考维度时不同。同样，使用不同的后牙大小定义（如下颌第二磨牙长度和上颌犬齿后区域）会显著改变结果。前牙大小的不同定义也会出现同样的情况。在灵长类动物牙齿异速生长研究中，通常会从所测量的特定变量推广到广泛的功能解释。然而，在异速生长分析中，高度相关的变量不能相互替代而不对方程结果产生重要影响。与普遍认识相比，异速生长数据的解释更严格地局限于特定研究中所测量的精确变量。
