Abstract
This paper documents the diversity and variation in the circumorbital foramina in extant primates. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the circumorbital foramina, comprising the supraorbital foramen, the infraorbital foramen, and the malar foramen, was carried out using representative species from nine extant families of primates. The information obtained from the study is used to reconstruct ancestral morphotypes, and to make inferences about evolutionary changes that may have taken place in the major primate lineages. In addition, the analysis provides useful comparative data for interpretation of the phylogenetic significance and paleobiological implications of the circumorbital foramina in fossil primates.
References
Adachi, B., 1904. Die orbita und die hauptmasse des schaedels der Japaner und die methode der orbitalmessung.Z. Morph. Anthropol., 7: 379–480.
Anthony, J., 1946. Le trou malaire des Atelidae et son intéret dans la classification des singes platyrrhiniens.Mammalia, 10(2): 69–77.
Ashton, E. H. &C. E. Oxnard, 1958. Some variation in the maxillary nerve of primates.Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 131: 457–470.
———— &S. Zuckerman, 1958. The infraorbital foramen in the Hominoidea.Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 13: 471–485.
Grüber, W., 1874. Über die infraorbitalkanäle bei dem menschen und bei den Säugetieren.Mem. de l'Acad. Imp. des Sciences de St.-Petersbourg, 7, Ser, 21: 1–27.
Harrison, T., 1987. The phylogenetic relationships of the early catarrhine primates: a review of the current evidence.J. Human Evol., 16: 41–80.
Hershkovitz, P., 1977.Living New World Monkeys (Platyrrhini) with an Introduction to Primates, Vol. 1. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Hill, W. C. O., 1960.Primates: Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy, Cebidae, Vol. 4, Part A. Edinburgh Univ. Press, Edinburgh.
————, 1966.Primates: Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy, Vol. 6, Catarrhini. Cercopithecoidea. Cercopithecinae. Edinburgh Univ. Press, Edinburgh.
————, 1970.Primates: Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy, Vol. 7, Cynopithecinae, Papio, Mandrillusand Theropithecus. Edinburgh Univ. Press, Edinburgh.
Kay, R. F. &M. Cartmill, 1977. Cranial morphology and adaptation ofPalaechthan nacimienti and other Paromomyidae (Plesiadapoidea, ?Primates), with a description of a new genus and species.J. Human Evol., 6: 19–53.
le Double, A. F., 1906.Traité des Variations des Os de La Face de l'Homme. Vigot Freres, Paris.
Oppenheim, S., 1911. Infraorbitale.Z. Morph. Anthropol., 14: 1–203.
Oxnard, C. E., 1957. The maxillary nerve in the Ceboidea.Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 128: 113–117.
Riesenfeld, A., 1956. Multiple infraorbital, ethmoidal and mental foramina in the races of man.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 14: 85–100.
Schaefer, U., 1954. Die Anzahl der Foramina infraorbitalia bei Primaten, insbesondere bei Anthropoiden und Mensch.Z. Morph. Anthropol., 46: 12–23.
Schultz, A. H., 1954. Die Foramina infraorbitalia der Primaten.Z. Morph. Anthropol., 46: 404–407.
Warwick, P. &P. L. Williams, 1973.Gray's Anatomy 35th British Edition. Saunders Company, Philadelphia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Msuya, C.P., Harrison, T. The circumorbital foramina in primates. Primates 35, 231–240 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382059
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382059