Based on 37 measurements--ranging from the length of the cranium to the height of the eye sockets--the team reports this week in Nature that the worldwide pattern of skull shapes closely matches the genetic data: The diversity of cranial shape within a population falls off the farther it is from Africa.
The paired frontal bones together occupy the middle third of the length of the cranium and are highly fractured.
The bullae are presumably composed entirely of the ectotympanic, as in other rodents, and occupy about a fourth of the entire length of the cranium and are slightly larger relative to cranial length than those of Atherurus, Cavia, and Thryonomys.
The nasal is proportionally short, measuring less than half the length of the cranium as in Eoraptor and basal sauropodomorphs [23] but shorter than that in Herrerasaurus [12] and the neotheropods "Syntarsus" [25] and Coelophysis [26].
The following measurements were taken on each skull: Occipitonasal Length, Basal Length, Zygomatic Breadth, Occipital Breadth (occipital crest), Occipital Height (opisthion to opisthocranion), Nasal Breadth (nasal boss), Toothrow Length (P2 to M3), Depth of Dorsal Concavity (greatest distance from dorsal contour of cranium to a rod resting on nasal boss and occipital crest).
The longitudinal length of the optical signals from the cranium to the spinal canal was also significantly different between groups (P < 0.001; ANOVA Figuree 4C).
The SH sample consists of: AT-5899, a maxilla, part of Cranium 16; AT-1100; Cranium 9 and Cranium 6.
Then it was time for apre' ski wine, dinner and a ferocious game of Cranium.
The maximum length from cranium to the caudal rump was measured as a straight line.
In essence this is a franchised version of Cranium Filament Reductions.
