Presence of the Maxillary Sinus in Fossil Colobinae (Cercopithecoides williamsi) from South Africa

Abstract

Extant cercopithecoid monkeys, except macaques, are distinguished among primates by their lack of paranasal pneumatization, including the maxillary sinus (MS). Analysis of this structure, widespread among Eutheria, suggests that its loss occurred in the cercopithecoid common ancestor; thus, the presence of the MS in macaques is not strictly homologous to that in other primates. CT analysis of the fossil species Victoriapithecus macinnesi supports this view, demonstrating the lack of the MS in this stem cercopithecoid. Recent evidence, however, has documented the presence of the MS in extinct cercopithecoids from the late Miocene and Pliocene. This study reports on CT examination of two fossil crania attributed to Cercopithecoides williamsi from South Africa, dated in the range, 3.0-1.5 Ma. BF 42a is a complete cranium from Bolts Farm; MP113 is an intact facial skeleton, including the anterior cranial vault, from the Makapansgat Limeworks. Both demonstrate MS presence, unknown in extant colobines and unexpected in most cercopithecoid monkeys. The relative size of the MS of BF 42a is similar to that of extant tropical and subtropical macaques. The presence of sinuses in several extinct colobines suggests that our understanding of the evolutionary history of these primates, and of the MS, is incomplete, and that other fossil cercopithecoids should be examined for this feature. The developmental plasticity exhibited in this feature, indicated by multiple loss and reemergence, provides further evidence that paranasal pneumatization has undergone a complex history of suppression and expression.

Comparative morphology of porpoise (Cetacea: Phocoenidae) pterygoid sinuses: Phylogenetic and functional implications

“…3). This asymmetry of the sinuses relates well with asymmetrical use of phonic lips observed during sound production in phocoenids (Koblitz et al, 2012; Madsen et al, 2010). Differences in populations may be reflected in MVZ 135247, as this individual was the only specimen collected from south of San Francisco (Supporting Information, Table 1).…”

“…Sinus position and shape may correlate with the shape and positioning of the sound production apparatus in the forehead of phocoenids. Recent work has found that the harbor porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) preferentially produces biosonar clicks with the right pair of phonic lips (Madsen et al, 2010; Koblitz et al, 2012), even though anatomical work shows that they have mostly symmetrical sets of phonic lips (Huggenberger et al, 2009), and acoustic studies show that they use dynamic, although asymmetrical, beam formation when echolocating (Koblitz et al, 2012). In spite of having relatively symmetrical skulls compared to other odontocetes, the asymmetries we observe in the dorsal preorbital lobe portions of the sinuses further imply potential functional aspects to the sinuses.…”

“…Low intraspecific variation was found in Phocoena phocoena , as evidenced largely by similar linear measurements. The stronger correlation found between the right sinus volume and skull volume compared with the left may indicate stronger dependence on skull shape or volume, possibly as it relates to asymmetrically generated biosonar from the epicranial sacs (Madsen et al, 2010; Koblitz et al, 2012). The presence of less developed pterygoid sinuses in the neonate indicates their importance in sound reflection for bidirectional hearing early in ontogeny, but also that the maturity of specimens should be taken into account when adding this character to matrices intended for phylogenetic reconstruction.…”

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

“…While this study focuses predominantly on modern humans, it is important to emphasize that the paranasal sinuses have a long phylogenetic history (see Witmer, for reviews) and are present in multiple mammalian and primate lineages displaying vastly different craniofacial morphologies (Cave and Haines, ; Rae, ; Rae and Koppe, ; Rossie, ; Kuykendall and Rae, ; Witmer and Ridgely, ; Zollikofer et al, ). With this in mind, the hypotheses presented here should not be taken as suggestions that sinuses initially evolved to facilitate an accommodative function, or that sinuses may not have been co‐opted for alternative functions in other lineages (also see Butaric, ).…”

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

“…MS form may not be homologous (in an evolutionary sense) between macaques and humans. Macaques alone among extant Old World monkeys possess a MS, bringing up the possibility that the macaque MS is the result of an evolutionary reversal [Rae et al (2002); but see Kuykendall and Rae (2008)]. In addition, architectural relationships in the faces of macaques and rats may not be applicable to modern human crania, in which the face is short (Trinkaus, 2003) and the entire nasomaxillary complex is ''tucked'' under the frontal lobes of the brain (Enlow, 1990;Lieberman et al, 2002), putting space in the face at a premium (Lantz and McCarthy, ms 1 ).…”