LXVIII. Observations upon the Formation and Function of the Accessory Nasal Sinuses and the Mastoid Cells

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Morphological Covariation between the Maxillary Sinus and Midfacial Skeleton among Sub‐Saharan and Circumpolar Modern Humans

Butaric

Maddux

2016

“…According to one view, the maxillary and frontal sinuses and other pneumatized spaces are created by the opportunistic invasion of air pockets into surrounding compartments (Proetz, 1922;Takahasi, 1983;Shea, 1985;Blaney, 1986;Witmer, 1997;Sherwood, 1999;Zollikofer and Weissmann, 2008;. According to another view (Ingersoll, 1906;Negus, 1957;Lund, 1988;Rae and Koppe, 2004), the MS is a vestigial structure with no functional utility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A preliminary 3D computed tomography study of the human maxillary sinus and nasal cavity

Butaric

McCarthy

Broadfield

2010

Despite centuries of investigation, the function of the maxillary sinus (MS) and underlying patterns governing its form remain elusive. In this study, we articulate a methodology for collecting volumetric data for the MS and nasal cavity (NC) from computed tomography (CT) scans and report details for a small sample of 39 dried human crania of known ecogeographic provenience useful for assessing variation in MS size and shape. We use scaling analyses to preliminarily test the hypothesis that volumes of the nasal cavity (NCV) and maxillary sinus (MSV) are inversely correlated such that the NC covaries with size of the face, whereas the MS "fills in" the leftover space [proposed by Shea: Am J Phys Anthropol 47 (1977):289-300]. Against expectation, MSV is not significantly correlated with NCV or any cranial size variable. NCV, on the other hand, scales isometrically with facial size. The results of this pilot study suggest that NCV covaries with facial size, but that the MS does not simply fill in the leftover space in the face. The role, if any, of the MSs in midfacial function and architecture remains unclear. Larger sample sizes, additional environmental variables, and assessment of MS and NC shape are necessary to resolve this issue.

“…The hominine frontal sinus communi-cates with the middle meatus of the nasal cavity in one of two ways. It either connects via a frontonasal duct that opens just anterior to the infundibulum, or through one of the ethmoid air cells, which themselves open through ostia into the middle meatus (Schaeffer, 1916;Proetz, 1922;Keith, 1948;Negus, 1958;Moss-Salentijn, 1991). In either case, the ostium lies in or around the infundibulum of the ethmoid.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomy of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in Aegyptopithecus and early Miocene African catarrhines

Rossie

2004

Neontological comparisons suggest that paranasal sinus anatomy is diagnostic of several catarrhine clades such as Cercopithecoidea, Hominoidea, Homininae, and Ponginae. However, while the loss of sinuses in cercopithecoids is generally recognized as a derived condition, determining the polarity of character-state changes within noncercopithecoid catarrhines requires knowledge of the primitive catarrhine condition. To address this problem, the paranasal sinus anatomy of Aegyptopithecus and several early Miocene catarrhines was investigated. Two partial facial skeletons of Aegyptopithecus were subjected to computed tomography in order to reveal their internal anatomy. These data were compared with facial and palatal specimens of Proconsul, Limnopithecus, Dendropithecus, Rangwapithecus, and Kalepithecus in the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, and to wet and dry specimens of living taxa. Results confirm that cercopithecoid paranasal anatomy is derived, and reveal that the sinus anatomy of stem catarrhines included a hominoid-like maxillary sinus as well as an ethmofrontal system like that of hominines. Accordingly, these two features do not constitute evidence for the hominoid, hominid, or hominine status of any fossil species. Conversely, the absence of the ethmofrontal sinus system in Sivapithecus and Pongo is synapomorphic. In addition, features of the nasal cavity of Limnopithecus and Kalepithecus support previous suggestions that these taxa are stem catarrhines rather than hominoids.