Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Investigating Postnatal Ontogeny In The Craniofacial Complex Of Human Juveniles, Amber Davis Wheat

Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have analyzed the developmental processes contributing to craniofacial variation from genetic, evolutionary, biomechanical and forensic perspectives, yet no study has clearly demonstrated the exact anatomical processes that occur in the craniofacial complex during postnatal growth to establish ultimate adult morphologies. Furthermore, previous research has not evaluated how endocranial bones (i.e., the ethmoid and sphenoid) play a role in postnatal craniofacial growth. Thus, while researchers have hypothesized that the long postnatal period of continued growth contributes to the high amount of variation observed in adult facial variation, this has yet to be shown empirically.

The presented research uses cranial data …