Abstract
An enlarged occipital-marginal venous sinus system occurs in much higher frequencies in cranial remains of robust australopithecines and Australopithecus afarensis than in crania representing other fossil or extant hominids. A detailed functional interpretation of this ‘accessory’ sinus system is suggested here. Such a system would have permitted blood to flow preferentially to either the vertebral or the internal jugular system, depending on postural and respiratory changes, and thus provides a unique solution to the increased circulatory demands on the vertebral venous plexus associated with upright posture and bipedalism. The distribution of this trait among fossil hominids suggests that A. afarensis was directly ancestral to, or shared a common ancestor with, robust australopithecines.
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Falk, D., Conroy, G. The cranial venous sinus system in Australopithecus afarensis. Nature 306, 779–781 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/306779a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/306779a0
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