Book contents
- African Genesis:
- Series page
- African Genesis
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- 1 African Genesis: an evolving paradigm
- 2 Academic genealogy
- Part I In search of origins: evolutionary theory, new species and paths into the past
- Part II Hominin morphology through time: brains, bodies and teeth
- 8 Hominin brain evolution, 1925–2011: an emerging overview
- 9 The issue of brain reorganisation in Australopithecus and early hominids: Dart had it right
- 10 The mass of the human brain: is it a spandrel?
- 11 Origin and diversity of early hominin bipedalism
- 12 Forelimb adaptations in Australopithecus afarensis
- 13 Hominin proximal femur morphology from the Tugen Hills to Flores
- 14 Daily rates of dentine formation and root extension rates in Paranthropus boisei, KNM-ER 1817, from Koobi Fora, Kenya
- 15 On the evolutionary development of early hominid molar teeth and the Gondolin Paranthropus molar
- 16 Digital South African fossils: morphological studies using reference-based reconstruction and electronic preparation
- Part III Modern human origins: patterns and processes
- Part IV In search of context: hominin environments, behaviour and lithic cultures
- Index
- Plate Section
16 - Digital South African fossils: morphological studies using reference-based reconstruction and electronic preparation
from Part II - Hominin morphology through time: brains, bodies and teeth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2012
- African Genesis:
- Series page
- African Genesis
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- 1 African Genesis: an evolving paradigm
- 2 Academic genealogy
- Part I In search of origins: evolutionary theory, new species and paths into the past
- Part II Hominin morphology through time: brains, bodies and teeth
- 8 Hominin brain evolution, 1925–2011: an emerging overview
- 9 The issue of brain reorganisation in Australopithecus and early hominids: Dart had it right
- 10 The mass of the human brain: is it a spandrel?
- 11 Origin and diversity of early hominin bipedalism
- 12 Forelimb adaptations in Australopithecus afarensis
- 13 Hominin proximal femur morphology from the Tugen Hills to Flores
- 14 Daily rates of dentine formation and root extension rates in Paranthropus boisei, KNM-ER 1817, from Koobi Fora, Kenya
- 15 On the evolutionary development of early hominid molar teeth and the Gondolin Paranthropus molar
- 16 Digital South African fossils: morphological studies using reference-based reconstruction and electronic preparation
- Part III Modern human origins: patterns and processes
- Part IV In search of context: hominin environments, behaviour and lithic cultures
- Index
- Plate Section
Summary
Virtual anthropology (VA) is a multidisciplinary approach to studying anatomical data in three spatial dimensions, or in space through time, particularly for humans, their ancestors and their closest relatives (www.virtual-anthropology.com). The quantitative analysis of biological structures in varying detail is a key element, as is the availability of digital data. This fusion of anthropology, mathematics, physics, computer science, medicine and industrial design incorporates know-how for applications spanning evolutionary biology, hominoid development and growth, forensics, biometric identification, medical diagnosis and teaching (Figure 16.1). In this chapter, we demonstrate the VA toolkit by reviewing some recent results based on high-resolution CT data from South African fossil hominids. We show examples of electronic preparation (MLD 37/38) and anatomical and geometric reconstruction (Taung, Sts 71, StW 505, SK 48, MLD 37/38), and we explain the outcomes or findings regarding endocranial measurements, venous drainage systems, sexual dimorphism in A. africanus, growth trajectories of hominoids, and the allometric scaling of robust australopithecines. Digital specimens, available independent of time or location, allow us to capture novel and more reproducible data of traits and form, as from inaccessible or hitherto unformalised regions. Delicate specimens can be protected from damage when digital fossils are used to make casts, to share data among scientists and to underlie alternative measurement schemes. We argue that these themes represent one substantial area of development for contemporary fossil-based palaeoanthropology.
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- African GenesisPerspectives on Hominin Evolution, pp. 298 - 316Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
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