Bernhard Zipfel

University Curator of Fossil and Rock Collections

Frontal sinuses and human evolution


Journal article


A. Balzeau, L. Albessard-Ball, A. Kubicka, A. Filippo, A. Beaudet, E. Santos, T. Bienvenu, J. Arsuaga, A. Bartsiokas, L. Berger, J. M. Bermúdez de Castro, M. Brunet, K. Carlson, J. Daura, V. Gorgoulis, F. Grine, K. Harvati, J. Hawks, A. Herries, J. Hublin, J. Hui, R. Ives, J. A. Joordens, Y. Kaifu, M. Kouloukoussa, B. Léger, D. Lordkipanidze, A. Margvelashvili, J. M. Martin, M. Martinón‐Torres, H. May, A. Mounier, A. du Plessis, T. Rae, C. Röding, M. Sanz, P. Semal, D. Stratford, C. J. Stringer, M. Tawane, H. Temming, E. Tsoukala, J. Zilhão, B. Zipfel, L. Buck
Science advances, vol. 8(42), 2022, eabp.9767

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abp9767

Semantic Scholar DOI PubMedCentral PubMed
Cite

Cite

APA   Click to copy
Balzeau, A., Albessard-Ball, L., Kubicka, A., Filippo, A., Beaudet, A., Santos, E., … Buck, L. (2022). Frontal sinuses and human evolution. Science Advances, 8(42), eabp.9767. https://doi.org/ 10.1126/sciadv.abp9767


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Balzeau, A., L. Albessard-Ball, A. Kubicka, A. Filippo, A. Beaudet, E. Santos, T. Bienvenu, et al. “Frontal Sinuses and Human Evolution.” Science advances 8, no. 42 (2022): eabp.9767.


MLA   Click to copy
Balzeau, A., et al. “Frontal Sinuses and Human Evolution.” Science Advances, vol. 8, no. 42, 2022, p. eabp.9767, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abp9767.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{a2022a,
  title = {Frontal sinuses and human evolution},
  year = {2022},
  issue = {42},
  journal = {Science advances},
  pages = {eabp.9767},
  volume = {8},
  doi = { 10.1126/sciadv.abp9767},
  author = {Balzeau, A. and Albessard-Ball, L. and Kubicka, A. and Filippo, A. and Beaudet, A. and Santos, E. and Bienvenu, T. and Arsuaga, J. and Bartsiokas, A. and Berger, L. and de Castro, J. M. Bermúdez and Brunet, M. and Carlson, K. and Daura, J. and Gorgoulis, V. and Grine, F. and Harvati, K. and Hawks, J. and Herries, A. and Hublin, J. and Hui, J. and Ives, R. and Joordens, J. A. and Kaifu, Y. and Kouloukoussa, M. and Léger, B. and Lordkipanidze, D. and Margvelashvili, A. and Martin, J. M. and Martinón‐Torres, M. and May, H. and Mounier, A. and du Plessis, A. and Rae, T. and Röding, C. and Sanz, M. and Semal, P. and Stratford, D. and Stringer, C. J. and Tawane, M. and Temming, H. and Tsoukala, E. and Zilhão, J. and Zipfel, B. and Buck, L.}
}

Abstract

The frontal sinuses are cavities inside the frontal bone located at the junction between the face and the cranial vault and close to the brain. Despite a long history of study, understanding of their origin and variation through evolution is limited. This work compares most hominin species’ holotypes and other key individuals with extant hominids. It provides a unique and valuable perspective of the variation in sinuses position, shape, and dimensions based on a simple and reproducible methodology. We also observed a covariation between the size and shape of the sinuses and the underlying frontal lobes in hominin species from at least the appearance of Homo erectus. Our results additionally undermine hypotheses stating that hominin frontal sinuses were directly affected by biomechanical constraints resulting from either chewing or adaptation to climate. Last, we demonstrate their substantial potential for discussions of the evolutionary relationships between hominin species.