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J Morphol 2014 Jun 1;275(6):661-77. Epub 2014 Feb 1.

Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Considerable variation exists in mandibular ramus form among primates, particularly great apes and humans. Recent analyses of adult ramal morphology have suggested that features on the ramus, especially the coronoid process and sigmoid notch, can be treated as phylogenetic characters that can be used to reconstruct relationships among great ape and fossil hominin taxa. Others have contended that ramal morphology is more influenced by function than phylogeny. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 1996 Aug;100(4):545-57

Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794-4364, USA.

The site of Klasies River Mouth (KRM) in South Africa has produced a small sample of early Upper Pleistocene hominid remains that have been a focus for discussions of the origins of modern humans. Despite certain primitive characteristics exhibited by these fossils, proponents of a single recent origin have attributed them to early modern humans. Critics of this hypothesis have emphasized the significance of the archaic features evident in this sample, including the absence of pronounced chins among the mandibular specimens. Read More

J Hum Evol 2002 Apr;42(4):451-74

Department of Paleobiology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain.

The pattern of sexual dimorphism in 15 mandibles from the Atapuerca-SH Middle Pleistocene site, attributed to Homo heidelbergensis, is explored. Two modern human samples of known sex are used as a baseline for establishing sexing criteria. The mandible was divided for analysis into seven study regions and differential expression of sexual dimorphism in these regions is analysed. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 1991 Nov;86(3):321-39

Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794.

This investigation explores the effects of compact bone distribution on the biomechanical properties of the postcanine mandibular corpus of the fossil hominid taxa Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus. The mandibles of extant great apes, modern humans, and the fossil hominids are examined by computed tomography (CT), and compact bone contours are used to calculate cross-sectional biomechanical properties (cortical area, second moments of area, and Bredt's formula for torsional strength). The relative amount of compact bone is comparable in the modern and fossil mandibles, but the mechanical properties of A. Read More