The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) represents the most significant climatic event since the emergence of anatomically modern humans (AMH). In Europe, the LGM may have played a role in changing morphological features as a result of adaptive and stochastic processes. We use craniometric data to examine morphological diversity in pre- and post-LGM specimens. Craniometric variation is assessed across f...

The morphological features of disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid-space hydrocephalus (DESH), the core type of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus, can not be explained by the classical theory of CSF absorption at the arachnoid villi and the hypothesis of CSF flow blocking at the convexity subarachnoid spaces. By using MRI Time-SLIP CSF flow imaging, we demonstrated that CSF freely mo...

Though several pathogenetic theories concerning the frequent association of Chiari malformation and hydrocephalus with myeloschisis have been suggested, none of them explains all the aspects of the disorder. To investigate whether myeloschisis is the direct cause of Chiari malformation and hydrocephalus or these conditions are the results of another basic event, we observed the morphological ch...

The Davis Mountains cottontail, Sylvilagus robustus, is morphologically different from the eastern cottontail, S. floridanus, but previous genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA data did not recover 2 genetically distinct groups. Our study used a nuclear DNA fingerprinting technique, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), to test the hypothesis that S. robustus is genetically distinct fr...

The muscle trapezius shows considerable morphological diversity. Variations include an anomalous origin and complete or partial absence of the muscle. The present study reported, a hitherto undocumented complete bilateral absence of the cervical part of trapezius. Based on its peculiar origin and insertion, it was named dorsoscapularis triangularis. The embryological, phylogenetic and molecular...

The site of Dmanisi, Georgia, has yielded an impressive sample of hominid cranial and postcranial remains, documenting the presence of Homo outside Africa around 1.8 million years ago. Here we report on a new cranium from Dmanisi (D4500) that, together with its mandible (D2600), represents the world's first completely preserved adult hominid skull from the early Pleistocene. D4500/D2600 combine...

The morphological diversity of Malawi and Tanganyika cichlids has often been qualitatively described, but rarely have hypotheses based on these descriptions been tested empirically. Using landmark based geometric morphometrics, shapes are analyzed independent of other aspects of the body form (e.g., size). The estimation of shape disparity, the quantitative measure of the variance of these raw ...

Increasing skeletal evidence from the U.S.A., Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil strongly suggests that the first settlers in the Americas had a cranial morphology distinct from that displayed by most late and modern Native Americans. The Paleoamerican morphological pattern is more generalized and can be seen today among Africans, Australians, and Melanesians. Here, we present the results of a compar...

Enantiornithines are the most diverse avian clade in the Cretaceous. However, morphological specializations indicative of specific ecological roles are not well known for this clade. Here we report on an exquisitely well-preserved specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of northeastern China, which pedal morphology is suggestive of a unique ecological specialization within Enantiornithes...

Acipenseriformes (sturgeon and paddlefish) are basal actinopterygians with a highly derived cranial morphology that is characterized by an anatomical independence of the jaws from the neurocranium. We examined the morphological and kinematic basis of prey capture in the Acipenseriform fish Scaphirhynchus albus, the pallid sturgeon. Feeding pallid sturgeon were filmed in lateral and ventral view...