Frontal sinuses and human evolution

Antoine Balzeau; Lou Albessard-Ball; Anna Maria Kubicka; Andréa Filippo; Amélie Beaudet; Elena Santos; Thibault Bienvenu; Juan-Luis Arsuaga; Antonis Bartsiokas; Lee Berger; José María Bermúdez de Castro; Michel Brunet; Kristian J Carlson; Joan Daura; Vassilis G Gorgoulis; Frederick E Grine; Katerina Harvati; John Hawks; Andy Herries; Jean-Jacques Hublin; Jiaming Hui; Rachel Ives; Josephine A Joordens; Yousuke Kaifu; Mirsini Kouloukoussa; Baptiste Léger; David Lordkipanidze; Ann Margvelashvili; Jesse Martin; María Martinón-Torres; Hila May; Aurélien Mounier; Anton du Plessis; Todd Rae; Carolin Röding; Montserrat Sanz; Patrick Semal; Dominic Stratford; Chris Stringer; Mirriam Tawane; Heiko Temming; Evangelia Tsoukala; João Zilhão; Bernhard Zipfel; Laura T Buck

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abp9767

Frontal sinuses and human evolution

Antoine Balzeau^*, Lou Albessard-Ball, Anna Maria Kubicka, Andréa Filippo, Amélie Beaudet, Elena Santos, Thibault Bienvenu, Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Antonis Bartsiokas, Lee Berger, José María Bermúdez de Castro, Michel Brunet, Kristian J Carlson, Joan Daura, Vassilis G Gorgoulis, Frederick E Grine, Katerina Harvati, John Hawks, Andy Herries, Jean-Jacques HublinJiaming Hui, Rachel Ives, Josephine A Joordens, Yousuke Kaifu, Mirsini Kouloukoussa, Baptiste Léger, David Lordkipanidze, Ann Margvelashvili, Jesse Martin, María Martinón-Torres, Hila May, Aurélien Mounier, Anton du Plessis, Todd Rae, Carolin Röding, Montserrat Sanz, Patrick Semal, Dominic Stratford, Chris Stringer, Mirriam Tawane, Heiko Temming, Evangelia Tsoukala, João Zilhão, Bernhard Zipfel, Laura T Buck

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The frontal sinuses are cavities inside the frontal bone located at the junction between the face and the cranial vault and close to the brain. Despite a long history of study, understanding of their origin and variation through evolution is limited. This work compares most hominin species' holotypes and other key individuals with extant hominids. It provides a unique and valuable perspective of the variation in sinuses position, shape, and dimensions based on a simple and reproducible methodology. We also observed a covariation between the size and shape of the sinuses and the underlying frontal lobes in hominin species from at least the appearance of Homo erectus. Our results additionally undermine hypotheses stating that hominin frontal sinuses were directly affected by biomechanical constraints resulting from either chewing or adaptation to climate. Last, we demonstrate their substantial potential for discussions of the evolutionary relationships between hominin species.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	eabp9767
Number of pages	10
Journal	Science advances
Volume	8
Issue number	42
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abp9767
Publication status	Published - 21 Oct 2022

Keywords

Boisei
Broken-hill
Fossil
Homo-sapiens
Insights
Lake turkana
Middle pleistocene
Morphology
Paranasal sinuses
Pneumatization

Access to Document

10.1126/sciadv.abp9767Licence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

Balzeau, A., Albessard-Ball, L., Kubicka, A. M., Filippo, A., Beaudet, A., Santos, E., Bienvenu, T., Arsuaga, J.-L., Bartsiokas, A., Berger, L., Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Brunet, M., Carlson, K. J., Daura, J., Gorgoulis, V. G., Grine, F. E., Harvati, K., Hawks, J., Herries, A., ... Buck, L. T. (2022). Frontal sinuses and human evolution. Science advances, 8(42), eabp9767. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abp9767

@article{b8bd7f06317d4c63bdbd99daeba7d1ad,

title = "Frontal sinuses and human evolution",

abstract = "The frontal sinuses are cavities inside the frontal bone located at the junction between the face and the cranial vault and close to the brain. Despite a long history of study, understanding of their origin and variation through evolution is limited. This work compares most hominin species' holotypes and other key individuals with extant hominids. It provides a unique and valuable perspective of the variation in sinuses position, shape, and dimensions based on a simple and reproducible methodology. We also observed a covariation between the size and shape of the sinuses and the underlying frontal lobes in hominin species from at least the appearance of Homo erectus. Our results additionally undermine hypotheses stating that hominin frontal sinuses were directly affected by biomechanical constraints resulting from either chewing or adaptation to climate. Last, we demonstrate their substantial potential for discussions of the evolutionary relationships between hominin species.",

keywords = "Boisei, Broken-hill, Fossil, Homo-sapiens, Insights, Lake turkana, Middle pleistocene, Morphology, Paranasal sinuses, Pneumatization",

author = "Antoine Balzeau and Lou Albessard-Ball and Kubicka, {Anna Maria} and Andr{\'e}a Filippo and Am{\'e}lie Beaudet and Elena Santos and Thibault Bienvenu and Juan-Luis Arsuaga and Antonis Bartsiokas and Lee Berger and {Berm{\'u}dez de Castro}, {Jos{\'e} Mar{\'i}a} and Michel Brunet and Carlson, {Kristian J} and Joan Daura and Gorgoulis, {Vassilis G} and Grine, {Frederick E} and Katerina Harvati and John Hawks and Andy Herries and Jean-Jacques Hublin and Jiaming Hui and Rachel Ives and Joordens, {Josephine A} and Yousuke Kaifu and Mirsini Kouloukoussa and Baptiste L{\'e}ger and David Lordkipanidze and Ann Margvelashvili and Jesse Martin and Mar{\'i}a Martin{\'o}n-Torres and Hila May and Aur{\'e}lien Mounier and {du Plessis}, Anton and Todd Rae and Carolin R{\"o}ding and Montserrat Sanz and Patrick Semal and Dominic Stratford and Chris Stringer and Mirriam Tawane and Heiko Temming and Evangelia Tsoukala and Jo{\~a}o Zilh{\~a}o and Bernhard Zipfel and Buck, {Laura T}",

note = "Funding Information: For permission to access specimens and help in collecting CT data, we thank numerous colleagues and institutions over the world. For details, see references for individual samples in the Supplementary Materials. We thank the Trustees of the Natural History Museum; M. Skinner for scanning assistance; the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; as well as T. White, G. Suwa, and B. Asfaw. L.T.B. would like to thank the University of Roehampton, The Primate Society of Great Britain (Charles A. Lockwood Memorial Prize), and The Leakey Trust for funding during her PhD data collection from which some of these data are taken [see (6) for details]. K.H. would like to thank the Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Norway. Last, we thank the editorial team and the reviewers who provided very helpful comments to improve our paper. This work is part of the PaleoBRAIN project financed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, grant ANR-20-CE27-0009 (A.Bal.); Fyssen foundation (L.A.-B.); the Calleva Foundation and the Human Origins Research Fund (C.S.); Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, grant YS-21-1595 (A.Ma.); European Research Council, grants ERC-CoG-724703 and ERC AdG 101019659 (K.H.); and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, grant DFG FOR 2237 (K.H.). Funding for the Atapuerca hominin analyses was from the Direcci{\'o}n General de Investigaci{\'o}n of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci{\'o}n, grant numbers PGC2018-093925-B-C31 and C33 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE). Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved.",

year = "2022",

month = oct,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.abp9767",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

pages = "eabp9767",

journal = "Science advances",

issn = "2375-2548",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "42",

}

Balzeau, A, Albessard-Ball, L, Kubicka, AM, Filippo, A, Beaudet, A, Santos, E, Bienvenu, T, Arsuaga, J-L, Bartsiokas, A, Berger, L, Bermúdez de Castro, JM, Brunet, M, Carlson, KJ, Daura, J, Gorgoulis, VG, Grine, FE, Harvati, K, Hawks, J, Herries, A, Hublin, J-J, Hui, J, Ives, R, Joordens, JA, Kaifu, Y, Kouloukoussa, M, Léger, B, Lordkipanidze, D, Margvelashvili, A, Martin, J, Martinón-Torres, M, May, H, Mounier, A, du Plessis, A, Rae, T, Röding, C, Sanz, M, Semal, P, Stratford, D, Stringer, C, Tawane, M, Temming, H, Tsoukala, E, Zilhão, J, Zipfel, B & Buck, LT 2022, 'Frontal sinuses and human evolution', Science advances, vol. 8, no. 42, pp. eabp9767. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abp9767

TY - JOUR

T1 - Frontal sinuses and human evolution

AU - Balzeau, Antoine

AU - Albessard-Ball, Lou

AU - Kubicka, Anna Maria

AU - Filippo, Andréa

AU - Beaudet, Amélie

AU - Santos, Elena

AU - Bienvenu, Thibault

AU - Arsuaga, Juan-Luis

AU - Bartsiokas, Antonis

AU - Berger, Lee

AU - Bermúdez de Castro, José María

AU - Brunet, Michel

AU - Carlson, Kristian J

AU - Daura, Joan

AU - Gorgoulis, Vassilis G

AU - Grine, Frederick E

AU - Harvati, Katerina

AU - Hawks, John

AU - Herries, Andy

AU - Hublin, Jean-Jacques

AU - Hui, Jiaming

AU - Ives, Rachel

AU - Joordens, Josephine A

AU - Kaifu, Yousuke

AU - Kouloukoussa, Mirsini

AU - Léger, Baptiste

AU - Lordkipanidze, David

AU - Margvelashvili, Ann

AU - Martin, Jesse

AU - Martinón-Torres, María

AU - May, Hila

AU - Mounier, Aurélien

AU - du Plessis, Anton

AU - Rae, Todd

AU - Röding, Carolin

AU - Sanz, Montserrat

AU - Semal, Patrick

AU - Stratford, Dominic

AU - Stringer, Chris

AU - Tawane, Mirriam

AU - Temming, Heiko

AU - Tsoukala, Evangelia

AU - Zilhão, João

AU - Zipfel, Bernhard

AU - Buck, Laura T

N1 - Funding Information: For permission to access specimens and help in collecting CT data, we thank numerous colleagues and institutions over the world. For details, see references for individual samples in the Supplementary Materials. We thank the Trustees of the Natural History Museum; M. Skinner for scanning assistance; the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; as well as T. White, G. Suwa, and B. Asfaw. L.T.B. would like to thank the University of Roehampton, The Primate Society of Great Britain (Charles A. Lockwood Memorial Prize), and The Leakey Trust for funding during her PhD data collection from which some of these data are taken [see (6) for details]. K.H. would like to thank the Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Norway. Last, we thank the editorial team and the reviewers who provided very helpful comments to improve our paper. This work is part of the PaleoBRAIN project financed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, grant ANR-20-CE27-0009 (A.Bal.); Fyssen foundation (L.A.-B.); the Calleva Foundation and the Human Origins Research Fund (C.S.); Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, grant YS-21-1595 (A.Ma.); European Research Council, grants ERC-CoG-724703 and ERC AdG 101019659 (K.H.); and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, grant DFG FOR 2237 (K.H.). Funding for the Atapuerca hominin analyses was from the Dirección General de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, grant numbers PGC2018-093925-B-C31 and C33 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved.

PY - 2022/10/21

Y1 - 2022/10/21

N2 - The frontal sinuses are cavities inside the frontal bone located at the junction between the face and the cranial vault and close to the brain. Despite a long history of study, understanding of their origin and variation through evolution is limited. This work compares most hominin species' holotypes and other key individuals with extant hominids. It provides a unique and valuable perspective of the variation in sinuses position, shape, and dimensions based on a simple and reproducible methodology. We also observed a covariation between the size and shape of the sinuses and the underlying frontal lobes in hominin species from at least the appearance of Homo erectus. Our results additionally undermine hypotheses stating that hominin frontal sinuses were directly affected by biomechanical constraints resulting from either chewing or adaptation to climate. Last, we demonstrate their substantial potential for discussions of the evolutionary relationships between hominin species.

AB - The frontal sinuses are cavities inside the frontal bone located at the junction between the face and the cranial vault and close to the brain. Despite a long history of study, understanding of their origin and variation through evolution is limited. This work compares most hominin species' holotypes and other key individuals with extant hominids. It provides a unique and valuable perspective of the variation in sinuses position, shape, and dimensions based on a simple and reproducible methodology. We also observed a covariation between the size and shape of the sinuses and the underlying frontal lobes in hominin species from at least the appearance of Homo erectus. Our results additionally undermine hypotheses stating that hominin frontal sinuses were directly affected by biomechanical constraints resulting from either chewing or adaptation to climate. Last, we demonstrate their substantial potential for discussions of the evolutionary relationships between hominin species.

KW - Boisei

KW - Broken-hill

KW - Fossil

KW - Homo-sapiens

KW - Insights

KW - Lake turkana

KW - Middle pleistocene

KW - Morphology

KW - Paranasal sinuses

KW - Pneumatization

U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.abp9767

DO - 10.1126/sciadv.abp9767

M3 - Article

C2 - 36269821

SN - 2375-2548

VL - 8

SP - eabp9767

JO - Science advances

JF - Science advances

IS - 42

ER -