Mechanical and morphometric approaches to body mass estimation in rhesus macaques: A test of skeletal variables.

Objectives: Estimation of body mass from skeletal metrics can reveal important insights into the paleobiology of archeological or fossil remains. The standard approach constructs predictive equations from postcrania, but studies have questioned the reliability of traditional measures. Here, we examine several skeletal features to assess their accuracy in predicting body mass.

Multiregion transcriptomic profiling of the primate brain reveals signatures of aging and the social environment.

Aging is accompanied by a host of social and biological changes that correlate with behavior, cognitive health and susceptibility to neurodegenerative disease. To understand trajectories of brain aging in a primate, we generated a multiregion bulk (N = 527 samples) and single-nucleus (N = 24 samples) brain transcriptional dataset encompassing 15 brain regions and both sexes in a unique population of free-ranging, behaviorally phenotyped rhesus macaques. We demonstrate that age-related changes in the level and variance of gene expression occur in genes associated with neural functions and neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease.

The ontogeny of sexual dimorphism in free-ranging rhesus macaques.

Objective: Reconstructing the social lives of extinct primates is possible only through an understanding of the interplay between morphology, sexual selection pressures, and social behavior in extant species. Somatic sexual dimorphism is an important variable in primate evolution, in part because of the clear relationship between the strength and mechanisms of sexual selection and the degree of dimorphism. Here, we examine body size dimorphism across ontogeny in male and female rhesus macaques to assess whether it is primarily achieved via bimaturism as predicted by a polygynandrous mating system, faster male growth indicating polygyny, or both.

Microstructure and energy dispersive diffraction reconstruction of 3D patterns of crystallographic texture in a shark centrum.

Tomography using diffracted x-rays produces reconstructions mapping quantities such as crystal lattice parameter(s), crystallite size, and crystallographic texture, information quite different from that obtained with absorption or phase contrast. Diffraction tomography is used to map an entire blue shark centrum with its double cone structure (corpora calcerea) and intermedialia (four wedges). Energy dispersive diffraction (EDD) and polychromatic synchrotron x-radiation at 6-BM-B, the Advanced Photon Source, were used.

Shark centra microanatomy and mineral density variation studied with laboratory microComputed Tomography.

Centra of shark vertebrae from three species of Lamniformes (Alopias vulpinus, Carcharodon carcharias and Isurus oxyrinchus) and three species of Carcharhiniformes (Carcharhinus plumbeus, Carcharhinus obscurus and Prionace glauca) were imaged with laboratory microcomputed Tomography (microCT) using volume element (voxel) sizes between 16 and 24 µm. Linear attenuation coefficients were the same in the corpus calcarea (hour-glass-shaped cone) and intermedialia of the lamniforms but were smaller in the intermedialia than in the corpus calcarea of the carcharhiniforms. All centra contained growth bands which were visible as small changes in linear attenuation coefficient.

Sex estimation of the subadult ilium prior to acetabular fusion.

Previous studies evaluating sexual dimorphism in subadult pelvic features present variable, and at times conflicting, conclusions. As a result, there is yet to be a consensus on whether the subadult pelvis can be used in sex estimation methods. This study aims to assess the forensic utility of ilium shape and greater sciatic notch morphology in sexing subadult pelves prior to acetabular fusion.

The importance of processing procedures and threshold values in CT scan segmentation of skeletal elements: An example using the immature os coxa.

As the accessibility and utility of virtual databases of skeletal collections continues to grow, the impact that scan processing procedures has on the accuracy of data obtained from virtual databases remains relatively unknown. This study quantifies the intra- and inter-observer error generated from varying computed tomography (CT) scan processing protocols, including re-segmentation, incrementally varying thresholding value, and data collectors' selection of the threshold value on a set of virtual subadult pelves. Four observers segmented the subadult ossa coxarum from postmortem CT scans of the fully-fleshed bodies of eleven individuals of varying ages.

Reconsidering osteoarthritis as a skeletal indicator of age at death.

Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA) generally increases with age, but it is a complex, multifactorial disease. This study investigated whether obesity, physical activity, and antemortem trauma preclude the use of OA for skeletal age estimation.

Materials And Methods: The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and all appendicular joints were scored for skeletal indicators of OA in 408 modern European-Americans (Bass Collection, TN).

Early Signs of Fracture Repair in the Human Rib Cage: Implications for Forensic Casework.

The decomposed body of a woman discovered beneath a collapsed structure was examined at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory.

A Preliminary Analysis of the Age of Full Expression of Sexually Dimorphic Cranial Traits.

Although high accuracy rates have been achieved for adult skeletal sex estimation, it is unclear at what age sexually dimorphic traits of the skull become fully developed and useful in subadults. Four linear distances that capture sexual dimorphism-the nuchal crest, mastoid process, glabella, and mental eminence-were measured in a longitudinal sample of lateral cranial radiographs from 10 males and 10 females in the Denver Growth Study (total n = 190). The age full trait expression was attained was compared to that of dental maturity (i.

Estimating Sex Using Metric Analysis of the Scapula by Postmortem Computed Tomography.

Postmortem computed tomography (CT) has been extensively used in the last decade for identification purposes and in various anthropologic studies. Postmortem CT measurements of scapulae, analyzed using logistic discriminant function developed in this study, showed 94.5% accuracy in estimating sex.

Skeletal Indicators of Shark Feeding on Human Remains: Evidence from Florida Forensic Anthropology Cases.

This research examines a series of six Florida forensic anthropology cases that exhibit taphonomic evidence of marine deposition and shark-feeding activities. In each case, we analyzed patterns of trauma/damage on the skeletal remains (e.g.

The Utility of Advanced Imaging in Forensic Anthropology.

Imaging technologies play an integral role in forensic anthropology cases. Advances in digital photography allow the anthropologist to photo-document the scene and skeletal remains in exceptional detail. Traditionally, radiographs have been used to document remains, potential trauma, and any individualizing characteristics such as healing trauma and frontal sinus morphology.

Line of Sight in Hominoids.

Objectives: It remains unclear how the realignments of the face and basicranium that characterize humans were acquired, both phylogenetically and ontogenetically. The developmentally constrained nature of the skull has been previously demonstrated in other primates using Donald H. Enlow's mammalian craniofacial architectural relationships.

Variation in the human bicondylar angle.

Objectives: Investigations of the human femoral bicondylar angle have largely focused on interspecific differences and intrapopulation variation. This analysis assesses the range of variation in the bicondylar angle in humans across four populations, examining the effects of population, sex and age.

Materials And Methods: The bicondylar angle was assessed in four sex- and age-balanced adult skeletal samples-modern Terry Whites and Blacks and archaeological South Dakota Arikara and Native Alaskans.