Braga J, Crubézy E, Elyaqtine M
Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des Populations du Passé, Université de Bordeaux I, U.M.R. 5809 du C.N.R.S., Talence, France.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1998 Dec;107(4):387-99. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199812)107:4<387::AID-AJPA2>3.0.CO;2-Y.
The elucidation of patterns of cranial skeletal maturation and growth in fossil hominids is possible not only through dental studies but also by mapping different aspects of ossification in both extant African apes and humans. However, knowledge of normal skeletal development in large samples of extant great apes is flimsy. To remedy this situation, this paper offers an extensive survey and thorough discussion of the ossification of the posterior border of the sphenoid greater wing. Indeed, this area provides much information about basicranial skeletal maturation. We investigate three variants: the absence of the foramen spinosum and the position of both the foramen spinosum and the foramen ovale in relation to the sphenosquamosal suture. Providing original data about humans and 1,425 extant great ape skulls and using a sample of 64 fossil hominids, this study aimed to test whether different ossification patterns occurred during the course of human evolution. The incidence of three derived morphologies located on the posterior border of the sphenoid greater wing increases during human evolution at different geological periods. The evolutionary polarity of these three derived morphologies is assessed by outgroup comparison and ontogenetic methods. During human evolution, there is a clear trend for the foramen spinosum to be present and wholly located on the posterior area of the sphenoid greater wing. Moreover, in all the great ape species and in Australopithecus afarensis, the sphenosquamosal suture may split the foramen ovale. Inversely, the foramen ovale always lies wholly within the sphenoid greater wing in Australopithecus africanus, robust australopithecines, early Homo, H. erectus (and/or H. ergaster), and Homo sapiens. From ontogenetic studies in humans, we conclude that, during human evolution, the ossification of the posterior area of the sphenoid greater wing progressively surrounded the middle meningeal artery (passing through the foramen spinosum) and the small meningeal artery (passing through the foramen ovale).
阐明化石原始人类颅骨骨骼成熟和生长模式，不仅可以通过牙齿研究，还可以通过描绘现存非洲猿类和人类骨化的不同方面来实现。然而，关于现存大型猿类大量样本正常骨骼发育的知识却很匮乏。为了改善这种情况，本文对蝶骨大翼后缘的骨化进行了广泛的调查和深入的讨论。事实上，这个区域提供了许多关于颅底骨骼成熟的信息。我们研究了三种变体：棘孔的缺失以及棘孔和卵圆孔相对于蝶鳞缝的位置。本研究提供了关于人类和1425个现存大型猿类头骨的原始数据，并使用了64个化石原始人类样本，旨在测试在人类进化过程中是否出现了不同的骨化模式。位于蝶骨大翼后缘的三种衍生形态的发生率在不同地质时期的人类进化过程中有所增加。通过外群比较和个体发育方法评估这三种衍生形态的进化极性。在人类进化过程中，明显存在一种趋势，即棘孔出现并完全位于蝶骨大翼的后部区域。此外，在所有大型猿类物种和阿法南方古猿中，蝶鳞缝可能会将卵圆孔分开。相反，在非洲南方古猿、粗壮南方古猿、早期人类、直立人（和/或匠人）以及智人中，卵圆孔总是完全位于蝶骨大翼内。从对人类的个体发育研究中，我们得出结论，在人类进化过程中，蝶骨大翼后部区域的骨化逐渐包围了脑膜中动脉（穿过棘孔）和小脑膜动脉（穿过卵圆孔）。
