Premium
Sexual dimorphism in the baboon facial skeleton
Author(s) -
Leigh Steven R.,
Cheverud James M.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330840209
Subject(s) - sexual dimorphism , baboon , allometry , biology , ontogeny , primate , sex characteristics , morphology (biology) , evolutionary biology , zoology , ecology , genetics , endocrinology
Baboons exhibit marked sexual dimorphism in many aspects of their morphology. Dimorphism is especially pronounced in the face. We use finite‐element analysis to investigate the ontogeny of sexual dimorphism in a cross‐sectional sample of baboon ( Papio sp.) faces. This method provides detailed quantitative information about size and shape changes at anatomical landmarks in the face during growth. Allometric results suggest that sexual dimorphism in facial size and shape is produced by ontogenetic scaling: males and females share a common ontogenetic trajectory. Analyses of growth in time, which complement allometric analyses, show that female growth slows much earlier than male growth, accounting for the differences between sexes. Local size and local shape follow similar patterns of growth, but changes in these variables are slower in females. Local and global facial size are much more dimorphic than local and global facial shape.