Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jun 6;8(6):e65199.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065199. Print 2013.

Facial morphogenesis of the earliest europeans

Rodrigo S Lacruz  1 , José María Bermúdez de Castro, María Martinón-Torres, Paul O'Higgins, Michael L Paine, Eudald Carbonell, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Timothy G Bromage
Affiliations

Facial morphogenesis of the earliest europeans

Rodrigo S Lacruz et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The modern human face differs from that of our early ancestors in that the facial profile is relatively retracted (orthognathic). This change in facial profile is associated with a characteristic spatial distribution of bone deposition and resorption: growth remodeling. For humans, surface resorption commonly dominates on anteriorly-facing areas of the subnasal region of the maxilla and mandible during development. We mapped the distribution of facial growth remodeling activities on the 900-800 ky maxilla ATD6-69 assigned to H. antecessor, and on the 1.5 My cranium KNM-WT 15000, part of an associated skeleton assigned to African H. erectus. We show that, as in H. sapiens, H. antecessor shows bone resorption over most of the subnasal region. This pattern contrasts with that seen in KNM-WT 15000 where evidence of bone deposition, not resorption, was identified. KNM-WT 15000 is similar to Australopithecus and the extant African apes in this localized area of bone deposition. These new data point to diversity of patterns of facial growth in fossil Homo. The similarities in facial growth in H. antecessor and H. sapiens suggest that one key developmental change responsible for the characteristic facial morphology of modern humans can be traced back at least to H. antecessor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Lateral views of KNM-WT 15000 (left) and ATD6-69 (right).
Note the differences in facial projection and in the topography of the maxilla.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Facial growth remodelling maps.
(A) Facial growth remodelling of the H. erectus specimen KNM-WT 15000 from Kenya, dating from ∼1.5 my showing depository fields (+) over most aspects of the anteriorly facing maxilla. Taphonomic alterations prevented a more complete analysis of the periosteal surface of this specimen which was only studied by SEM. (B) Facial growth remodelling of the specimen ATD6-69 representing H. antecessor, the oldest known European hominin species dating to 900–800 ky. SEM and confocal microscopy data showed resorptive fields (−) throughout the naso-alveolar clivus of this hominin, a characteristic shared with H. sapiens. Gray circles indicate the areas spot-mapped using the portable confocal microscope (PCSOM).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Scanning Electron Micrographs of facial growth remodeling in KNM-WT 15000 and ATD6-69.
Images “A” and “B” are representative of growth remodeling fields in KNM-WT 15000 (H. erectus). Image “A” shows depository fields in the clivus area of this specimen. For comparison, “B” shows resorptive fields in the anterior aspect of the mandibular ramus of this specimen. Scale bars (A, B) = 50 µm. Images “C” and “D” represent growth remodeling fields of the specimen ATD6-69 (H. antecessor). Image “C” shows depository fields near the zygomatic region whereas “D” is a representative resorptive field in the clivus of ATD6-69. Scale bars (C,D) = 100 µm. All images shown here are taken from high resolution replicas examined in the scanning electron microscope.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lieberman DE, McBratney B, Krovitz GE (2003) The evolution and development of cranial form in Homo sapiens. . Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 300: 1134–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Enlow DH (1966) A morphogenetic analysis of facial growth. Am J Orthodontists 52: 283–299. - PubMed
    1. Enlow DH, Bang S (1965) Growth and remodeling of the human maxilla. Am J Orthodontists 51: 446–464. - PubMed
    1. Kurihara S, Enlow DH, Rangel RD (1980) Remodeling Reversals in the Anterior Parts of the Human Mandible and Maxilla. Angle Orthod 50: 98–106. - PubMed
    1. Enlow DH, Hans MG (1996) Essentials of facial growth. W.B. Saunders. Philadelphia.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources