Comparison Between Apes And Humans Skull

Comparison Between Apes And Humans Skull:
ape and humans skull
  • In humans, the cranium is enlarged and larger than the facial portion. In apes, the facial portion is comparatively larger than cranium.
  • In humans vault of the head is smooth and rounded. It is more or less so in chimpanzees as well, but gorillas have sharp crests and the surface is rough. In orangutans, ridges are not so marked as in gorillas.
  • In humans, sutures are highly serrated and they continue to be so till later age of life. In apes, sutures are less serrated and become fused in the earlier part of life.
  • In humans, frontal and parietal tuberosities are well-marked, while in apes they are not so marked.
  • In humans, the forehead is well-developed and well-arched. Apes lack a forehead.
  • In humans, supraorbital ridges are of variable size and are separated. In gorillas these are massive and fused; in chimpanzees and orangs also these are prominent, but in the former, these are continuous while in the latter these are separated.
  • In humans, orbits are rectangular in outline and angles are rounded. In chimpanzees, these are more or less elliptical and in orangs oval or rounded. In gorillas, angles are rounded.
  • In human nasal bones are short and broad; in orangs long; in gorillas long and wider below; and in chimpanzees short and flat. In human nasal bridges are well raised, but in apes bridges are absent. Nasal apertures are pear-shaped in humans, chimpanzees and orangs; in gorillas oval. Inter-nasal sutures are present in humans and chimpanzees; they tend to disappear in gorillas and often absent in orangs. In humans intranasal spines are sharp. They separate the face from the floor of the nose. In apes, spines are not present.
  • In humans, the premaxilla is not marked off from maxilla. In apes, it is marked off.
  • In humans parietal regions are well-arched, but in apes, these are not so. In humans temporal lines rise halfway to the vertex on the wall of the cranium; in gorillas and orangs they rise up to vertex and fuse; in chimpanzees, they do so nearly to the vertex. The temporal fossa is not deep in humans but deep in apes. In humans, squamosal sutures are highly arched, while in apes these are flat. The pterion is spheno-parietal in humans and orangs, but fronto-temporal in chimpanzees and gorillas.
  • In humans alveolar prognathism is variable but in apes, it is marked.
  • In humans, occipital regions are well-arched and protruding. In apes this region is flat.
  • The foramen magnum is placed anteriorly at the base of the human skull, but in apes, it is placed posteriorly. As a result in humans, the head is well-balanced and the face is vertical.

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