Biomechanics of the Primate Skull Base

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-V

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2. Introduction

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 1-2

3. Review of the Literature on the Biomechanics of the Primate Skull

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 3-9

4. Procedure

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 10-10

5. Cranial Sutures

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 11-13

6. Mechanical Functions of the Dura Mater

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 14-15

7. External Forces Acting upon the Skull

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 16-21

8. Development of Models and External Forces in the Experiments

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 22-24

9. Technique of Experimental Stress Analysis

   • Brigitte Demes

   Pages 25-28

10. Results of the Experimental Stress Analysis of the Shell Models

    • Brigitte Demes

    Pages 29-43

11. Functional Morphology of the Basicranium

    • Brigitte Demes

    Pages 44-50

12. Summary

    • Brigitte Demes

    Pages 51-52

13. Back Matter

    Pages 53-59

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In the search for explanations for differences in the shape of skulls and their phylogenetic development, the morphology of the skull must be seen in connec­ tion with the functions it has to perform. The skull encloses the brain and the sense organs and provides them with physical protection. It also houses the initial parts of the respiratory and digestive systems and together with the jaws constitutes a tool capable of cutting and grinding food. The skull must be able to withstand forces imposed upon it by chewing, by movement of the head, by the weight of the head itself, and by impact loadings. An investigation of the factors influencing the shape of the skull has to take into account not only the above-mentioned functions. The shape also de­ pends on the phylogenetic history 9f the species concerned, which prescribes a basic bauplan and places restrictions on the extent to which functions can influence the design of structural units. The possibilities for variations in skull shape are also limited by ontogenetic development, since the shape of the adult skull is the result of intermediate stages of development, at each of which the skull was a functioning unit. Body size and absolute and relative size of the sense organs in the head also play an important role in determining the shape of the skull.

• Skull
• brain
• development
• influence
• morphology
• skeleton
• skull base

• Institut für Anatomie Arbeitsgruppe Funktionelle Morphologie, Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany

  Brigitte Demes

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