Geometric Morphometrics

Since Darwin, biologists have been struck by the extraordinary diversity of teleost fishes, particularly in contrast to their closest " living fossil " holostean relatives. Hypothesized drivers of teleost success include innovations in jaw mechanics, reproductive biology and, particularly at present, genomic architecture, yet all scenarios presuppose enhanced phenotypic diversification in teleosts. We test this key assumption by quantifying evolutionary rate and capacity for innovation in size and shape for the first 160 million y (Permian–Early Cretaceous) of evolution in neopterygian fishes (the more extensive clade containing teleosts and holosteans). We find that early teleosts do not show enhanced phenotypic evolution relative to holosteans. Instead, holostean rates and innovation often match or can even exceed those of stem-, crown-, and total-group teleosts, belying the living fossil reputation of their ex-tant representatives. In addition, we find some evidence for hetero-geneity within the teleost lineage. Although stem teleosts excel at discovering new body shapes, early crown-group taxa commonly display higher rates of shape evolution. However, the latter reflects low rates of shape evolution in stem teleosts relative to all other neopterygian taxa, rather than an exceptional feature of early crown teleosts. These results complement those emerging from studies of both extant teleosts as a whole and their sublineages, which generally fail to detect an association between genome duplication and significant shifts in rates of lineage diversification.

Howler monkeys (genus Alouatta) display a distinctive cranial architecture characterized by airorhynchy (or retroflexion of the facial skeleton on the cranial base), a small braincase, and a posteriorly oriented foramen magnum. This configuration has been associated with distinct factors including a high folivory diet, locomotion, and the presence of a specialized vocal tract characterized by large hyoid bone. However, the morphological relationships between the facial and neurocranial blocks in Alouatta have been scarcely investigated. In this study we quantitatively analyzed the cranial shape variation in Alouatta seniculus, to evaluate possible influences and constraints in face and braincase associated with airorhynchy. We also considered the structural role of the pteric area within the cranial functional matrix. We applied landmark-based analysis and multivariate statistics to 31 adult crania, computing shape analyses based on 3D coordinates registration as well as the analysis of the Euclidean distance matrix to investigate patterns of intraspecific morphological variability. Our results suggest that allometry is the main source of variation involved in shaping cranial morphology in howlers, influencing the degree of facial proportions and braincase flattening, and generating the main sexual differences. Larger individuals are characterized by a higher degree of airorhynchy, neurocranial flattening, and expansion of the zygomatic arch. Allometric variations influence the skull as a whole, without distinct patterns for face and braincase, which behave as an integrated morphological unit. A preliminary survey on the pteric pattern suggests that the morphology of this area may be the result of variations in the vertical growth rates between face and braincase. Future studies should be dedicated to the ontogenetic series and focus on airorhynchy in terms of differential growth among distinct cranial districts.

Between group PCA (bgPCA) has been developed to summarize group differences in high dimensional spaces like in geometric morphometrics and microarray data where the number of variables is often larger than sample size. However, it has been very recently shown that this technique inflates apparent differences as seen in scatterplots and, in extreme cases, can even create differences where there are none, an effect that becomes more exaggerated as dimensionality increases. In this study, we explore whether leave-one-out cross-validated scatterplots, in which cross-validated scores are used to construct the final ordination instead of the conventional ones, can mitigate the issue. Using simulated data with both isotropic variation or covariance, and increasing the number of variables, we show that cross-validated bgPCs reduce but do not completely remove the distortion of mean differences. However, although scatterplots might still depict inaccurate relationships between group means and must therefore be interpreted with great caution, cross-validation largely solves the issue of spurious separation. Thus, cross-validated bgPCA offers a big improvement for faithfully summarizing overlap or separation among groups in high dimensional spaces and its results will be largely consistent with distance-based permutation tests of significance for group mean differences in the full data space.

Measurement of body dimensions of carnivores usually requires the chemical immobilization of subjects. This process can be dangerous, costly and potentially harmful to the target individuals. Development of an alternative, inexpensive, and non-invasive method therefore warrants attention. The objective of this study was to test whether it is possible to obtain accurate measurements of body dimensions of leopards from camera trap photographs. A total of 10 leopards (Panthera pardus) were captured and collared at Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve, Zimbabwe from May 7 to June 20, 2017 and four body measurements namely shoulder height, head-to-tail, body, and tail length were recorded. The same measurements were taken from 101 scaled photographs of the leopards recorded during a baited-camera trapping (BCT) survey conducted from July 1 to October 22, 2017 and differences from the actual measurements calculated. Generalized Linear Mixed Effects Models were used to determine the effect of type of body measurement, photographic scale, posture, and sex on the accuracy of the photograph-based measurements. Type of body measurement and posture had a significant influence on accuracy. Least squares means of absolute differences between actual and photographic measurements showed that body length in the level back-straight forelimb-parallel tail posture was measured most accurately from photographs (2.0 cm, 95% CI [1.5-2.7 cm]), while head-to-tail dimensions in the arched back-bent forelimb-parallel tail posture were least accurate (8.3 cm, 95% CI [6.1-11.2 cm]). Using the BCT design, we conclude that it is possible to collect accurate morphometric data of leopards from camera trap photographs. Repeat measurements over time can provide researchers with vital body size and growth rate information which may help improve the monitoring and management of species of conservation concern, such as leopards.

Isognomon alatus is a sessile intertidal bivalve species that attaches to hard substrata. Within the Florida Keys, where tidal ranges are usually less than 1 m, settlement sites only a few centimetres apart experience drastically different tidal microhabitats. These varying conditions may create morphological gradients that can complicate taxonomic designations. To quantify and characterize the conchological effects of this microhabitat gradient and estimate the degree to which these effects can confuse species identification, I. alatus was studied in relation to tidal position using geometric morphometrics. Isognomon alatus was only found at positions 0.4 m below the highest tide mark, positions exposed to air less than 80% of the time. Below this limit specimen size, immersion time, and area available all covary. Shape differences due to ontogeny were removed using regression and the remaining phenotypic variation within these specimens is significantly correlated with the measured habitat conditions, immersion time being the more robust predictor. The observed phenotype effects are small but can influence species identification. Species assignment tests between I. alatus and the morphologically similar IndoPacific I. ephippium ranged in accuracy from 98 to 90% across microhabitat condition

The hominoid foot is of particular interest to biological anthropologists, as changes in its anatomy through time reflect the adoption of terrestrial locomotion, particularly in species of Australopithecus and Homo. Understanding the osteological morphology associated with changes in whole foot function and the development of the plantar medial longitudinal foot arch are key to understanding the transition through habitual bipedalism in australopithecines to obligate bipedalism and long-distance running in Homo. The talus is ideal for studying relationships between morphology and function in this context, as it is a major contributor to the adduction–abduction, plantar–dorsal flexion and inversion–eversion of the foot, and transmits all forces encountered from the foot to the leg. The talar surface is predominantly covered by articular facets, which have different quantifiable morphological characters, including surface area, surface curvature and orientation. The talus also presents challenges to the investigator, as its globular shape is very difficult to quantify accurately and reproducibly. Here we apply a three-dimensional approach using type 3 landmarks (slid semilandmarks) that are geometrically homologous to determine overall talar shape variations in a range of living and fossil hominoid taxa. Additionally, we use novel approaches to quantify the relative orientations and curvatures of talar articular facets by determining the principal vectors of facet orientation and fitting spheres to articular facets. The resulting metrics are analysed using phylogenetic regressions and principal components analyses. Our results suggest that articular surface curvatures reflect locomotor specialisations with, in particular, orang-utans having more highly curved facets in all but the calcaneal facet. Similarly, our approach to quantifying articular facet orientation appears to be effective in discriminating between extant hominoid species, and may therefore provide a sound basis for the study of fossil taxa and evolution of bipedalism in Australopithecus and Homo.

Through the use of publications and their cited references harvested from Scopus, we generated an interactive directed bipartite citation network for geometric morphometric applications in anthropology using Gephi 0.9.1. The network was subsequently filtered to include only those nodes with a degree of two or higher. InDegree and OutDegree were
used to identify and illustrate publications and references central to each of the communities identified in the study. Using the citation network as an epistemological tool, practitioners can identify schools of thought or practice, references with the highest overall authority, references central to each school of thought or practice, and the within-field publications that are cited most. Practitioners may then view and actively explore the progression of those publications, and the references that they cited, in graphical form.

For the current Network-please see http://crhr-archive.sfasu.edu/GMMAnthIntFig1/

The blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) comprise a group of medical and forensic importance because some species are responsible for myiasis and immature stages of several species feed on corpses and show preference for certain stages of decomposition. In both cases, the correct taxonomic determination is a crucial aspect for a medical or forensic investigation. The geometric morphometrics is a recent tool that describes the shape variation, although this technique has been used in adult blowfly, it has not been evaluated in immature. The goal of this study was to analyze the variations on cephalopharyngeal morphometrics, to support the identification of forensic immature flies. For this we photographed a total of 101 cephalopharyngeal skeletons from Chrysomya albiceps (n=34), C. megacephala (n=34) and Lucilia cuprina (n=33). Landmark coordinate (x, y) configurations were registered and aligned by Generalized Procrustes Analysis. Canonical Variates Analysis (CVA) were implemented with proportions of re-classified groups and MANOVA. Statistical analysis of variance found significant differences in centroid size (Kruskal-Wallis). The CVA showed significant separation, and a posteriori re-classification was 100% correctly assigned. The main differences between the three species were localized on: base of parastomal bar, apical tooth, clipeal arc, concavity of the pharyngeal sclerite, and union between hypostomal sclerite and the mouth hook. These differences could be useful as additional tools for larvae taxonomic identification; however, more studies are needed that include a more complete species representation in Calliphoridae.

Il volume ripercorre la genesi progettuale di uno degli edifici icona del Novecento italiano. Progettata in prossimità del casello di Firenze Nord per commemorare i caduti sul lavoro durante la costruzione dell’autostrada Milano-Napoli e realizzata dal maestro toscano dal 1961 al 1964 per conto della Società Autostrade s.p.a., la chiesa di San Giovanni Battista è espressione, forse la più elevata, del pensiero di Michelucci; qui prendono forma la sua concezione dello spazio come percorso, della comunità che si fa chiesa, della autenticità legata alla manifestazione sincera dei materiali, della sapienza artigiana come motore del cantiere e, infine della firmitas come elemento a servizio della venustas. Egli stesso trarrà insegnamento da questa opera, che negli aspetti formali e strutturali anticipa alcune soluzioni successive adottate indistintamente in edifici religiosi e civili. Il rilievo digitale della chiesa e l’analisi dei documenti conservati presso l’Archivio Storico della Società Autostrade, in gran parte inediti, hanno permesso all’autore di avanzare alcune ipotesi sulle ragioni della sua forma, in parte debitrici del precedente progetto affidato all’ingegnere Lamberto Stoppa. Dalla lettura del testo emerge in filigrana il modus operandi di Michelucci. In questo edificio più che in altri egli fa affidamento sul numeroso gruppo di lavoro che opera a suo fianco, costituito da architetti e ingegneri direttamente impiegati presso il suo studio e dai tecnici dell’impresa “Ing. Guido Lambertini” che ha costruito la chiesa; la collaborazione è solo apparentemente paritetica, l’architetto resta pur sempre il deus ex machina mentre gli altri saperi concorrono a dare forma alle sue idee.

This project investigates different aspects of craniofacial phenotypes exhibited in individuals with Down syndrome (DS), siblings of individuals with DS, and typically developing sibling pairs. A human sample (4-12 yrs.) consisting of 3D facial surface images (n = 55 for four separate samples: i.e. n = 220 overall) was used to explore developmental instability of the face and patterns of facial covariation between individuals with DS, their siblings, and typically developing sibling pairs. Morphometric analyses were used to infer how gene-dosage imbalance, caused by trisomy 21, is affecting DS craniofacial development. Overall we found increased fluctuating asymmetry in the faces of individuals with DS, which provides evidence for the "amplified developmental instability" model put forth by Shapiro (1975, 1983). However, the patterns of differences that we found suggest specific disruptions to regions of the face during craniofacial development rather than the generalized disruptions described by Shapiro under the amplified developmental instability model. Additionally, the results of our investigation found that covariation of facial metrics is different in DS individuals and in DS siblings relative to typically developing siblings. Based on differences in the pattern and strength of integration within and between facial regions in the DS and DS sibling samples, we put forth an "aneuploid conception model" to explain why facial integration is lowest in DS siblings and strengthened in DS relative to DS siblings.

In addition to the human-based analyses, micro-computed tomography (µCT) scans and morphometric analysis were employed to evaluate a complete genetic mouse model for DS - the Ts1Yey mouse. Morphometric comparison of craniofacial measures for Ts1Yey mice and euploid littermates (n = 12 for each sample) was done to determine if this model exhibits craniofacial differences similar to differences seen in humans with DS and in previously established DS mouse models. Overall, our results validate this mouse model for use in craniofacial DS investigations.

The taxonomic identification of fly species through wing geometry is a helpful tool for entomologists and officials involved in forensic research, who not necessarily require expertise on insect taxonomy. Members of the Muscidae family are relevant sources of evidence in forensic entomology; however, developing countries often lack experts in the taxonomical identification of essential species for the assessment of aspects such as the minimum postmortem interval (mPMI). Our study proposes a low-cost, fast, and technologically-accessible quantitative tool for the identification of Atherigona orientalis and Ophyra aenescens, associated with human corpses at advanced states of decomposition. We propose a tool that is based on the geometric variability observed in eight homologous landmarks on wing veins and the interpretation of morphometric estimates after a generalized Procrustes analysis. The use of a geometric approach for effective discrimination between Atherigona orientalis and Ophyra aenescens was supported by statistically significant differences in wing conformation and size. The evidence presented in this study shows that the analysis of geometric variability in the wing morphology of species of forensic relevance can contribute to simple and objective species identification. Geometric morphometrics is a simple and readily available tool for forensic science.

La presente tesis doctoral expone los resultados de una investigación cuya base empírica es un conjunto de esculturas de piedra con forma de cabezas del yacimiento arqueológico de Chavín de Huántar. Una porción apical tallada conjuntamente con la litoescultura, indica un contexto de uso original exclusivo en la mampostería megalítica externa, algunos de cuyos representantes in situ muestran un empleo estandarizado en el tercio superior de los principales edificios de un complejo arquitectónico monumental, ubicado en un estrecho valle intermontano de los Andes Centrales, con una vigencia temporal que ha sido datada entre los 1200/500-400 cal ANE. Este conjunto de objetos, proveniente de una colección museográfica y de una dimensión temporo-espacial arqueológicamente muy compleja, permite problematizar algunos aspectos teórico-metodológicos medulares empleados tradicionalmente en el estudio arqueológico de las representaciones figurativas. Desde un punto de vista teórico general, se considera que el interés en el estudio de las representaciones figurativas arqueológicas, no reside en su singularidad, sino en que, como toda materialidad social, en primera instancia deriva de la concreción del trabajo humano. Luego, a nivel sustantivo, se argumenta que su interés específico refiere a que su existencia deriva de necesidades sociales de carácter político-ideológico o, simplemente, idiosincrático, cuyos factores explicativos no se encuentran en un plano de identidad con tipologías de organización social, sino que ésta debe ser entendida caso a caso, toda vez que las evidencias disponibles de la producción y reproducción de la vida social que las solicita, permita poner en relación la producción y uso de las representaciones figurativas en una situación histórica concreta. El desarrollo de dichos puntos de partida teóricos condujo a tres preguntas principales: ¿Cuál fue el nivel de la estandarización de la producción de las esculturas? ¿Permite la existencia de estandarización, si es que la hubiese, identificar un trabajo especializado? Si es que se trata de un trabajo especializado ¿admite compatibilidad con otras actividades de subsistencia o tiende a la exclusividad? La integración de los resultados arrojados por distintos análisis sobre las propiedades físicas y figurativas de las litoesculturas, muestran un alto grado de estandarización que se ve reforzado por la presencia de dos principales grupos de representación excluyentes. Una revisión de los antecedentes de algunas técnicas de talla directa en piedra escultórica, los resultados obtenidos de los análisis sobre el conjunto de objetos y su integración en distintas fases constructivas de un nuevo proceso de producción arquitectónica, sugiere que dicha estandarización derivaría de una producción especializada, posiblemente acompañada de una institucionalización de los sistemas de transmisión de conocimientos lo que, sumado a las evidencias arqueológicas disponibles de la producción y reproducción de la vida social, podrían reforzar la hipótesis relativa a una concentración de la dominación de la producción intelectual por parte de grupos minoritarios, cuyo compás de beneficio económico aún requiere de mayores pruebas empíricas.

A well-preserved distal portion of a left humerus was discovered in 1976 during excavations directed by J.
Chavaillon at the Gombore I site, in the Melka Kunture area (Ethiopia). The specimen, labelled Gombore
IB-7594 (formally Melka Kunture 3, or MK3), was found in situ within unit 2 of level B, which is dated to
>1.39 Ma and includes a rich Oldowan Paleolithic assemblage. Although MK3 has never been described
in detail, it appeared in the literature several times and, from a taxonomic point of view, has been
alternatively regarded as Homo, Australopithecus or Paranthropus. According to our analysis, MK3 exhibits
a suite of features that fit the variability of the genus Homo and does not display any clear Australopithecus/
Paranthropus affinity. Nevertheless, MK3 adds a great deal of variability to the genus Homo, at
least as far as the Early Pleistocene fossil record is concerned. In particular, our quantitative approach,
which combines traditional morphometric analyses and geometric morphometrics, highlights traits that
are uncommon among the Plio-Pleistocene fossil record, while affinities with Mid-to-Late Pleistocene
representatives of Homo are observed. In addition, the large size of MK3 suggests that this humerus
belonged to an individual whose body weight approached 90 kg, far from the range of body size known
for Homo representatives in the Early Pleistocene and as big as those of extant humans or even gorillas.
We suggest that such peculiar features are of interest when regarded from an ecological perspective;
thus, dimension and morphology of MK3 may be considered as an exaptation that became useful when
early humans dispersed to high altitudes such as those of the upper Awash basin on the Ethiopian
plateau, at heights above 2000 m.

3D analysis of skeletal volumes has become an important field in digital anthropology studies. The volume of the mastoid process has been proposed to display significant sexual dimorphism, but it has a complex shape and to date no study has quantified the full mastoid volume for sex estimation purposes. In this study we compared three different ways to isolate the volume of the mastoid process from digital 3D models of dry crania, and then evaluated the performance of the
three different volume definitions for sex estimation purposes. A total of 170 crania (86 male, 84 females) excavated from five medieval Croatian sites were CT-scanned and used to produce 3D stereolitographic models. The three different isolation techniques were based on various anatomical landmarks and planes, as well as the anatomy of the mastoid process itself. Measurements of the three different mastoid volumes yielded different accuracies and precisions. Interestingly, anatomical structures were sometimes more useful than classical landmarks as demarcators of mastoid volume. For all three volume definitions, male mastoid volumes were significantly larger than female volumes, in both relative and absolute numbers. Sex estimation based on mastoid volume showed a slightly higher precision and better accuracy (71% correct classifications) than visual scoring techniques (67%) and linear distance measurements (69%) of the mastoid process. Sex
estimation based on cranial size performed even better (78%), and multifactorial analysis (cranium size + mastoid volume) reached up to 81% accuracy. These results show that measurements of the mastoid volume represent a promising metric to be used in multifactorial approaches for sex estimation of human remains.

When faced with commingled remains, it might be assumed that a more "masculine" pelvis is associated with a more "mascu-line" cranium, but this relationship has not been specifically tested. This study uses geometric morphometric analyses of pelvic and cranial landmarks to assess whether there is an intra-individual relationship between the degrees of sexual expression in these two skeletal regions. Principal component and discriminant function scores were used to assess sexual dimorphism in 113 U.S. Black individuals. Correlation values and partial least squares regression (PLS) were used to evaluate intra-individual relationships. Results indicate that the os coxae is more sexually dimorphic than the cranium, with element shape being more sexually dimorphic than size. PLS and correlation results suggest no significant intra-individual relationship between pelvic and cranial sexual size or shape expression. Thus, in commingled situations, associations between these skeletal elements cannot be inferred based on degree of "masculinity."

Nine decades after the discovery of the Clovis type site, Blackwater Draw Locality No. 1, we are getting closer to solving the perplexing mystery of Clovis origins. Working together, geneticists and archeologists are closing in on the ancestral Northeast Asian and Beringian homelands. We can anticipate that future archaeology will fill in the details about the emergence of Clovis lithic technology, south of the ice sheets, from its Beringian precursors. Morphometric analysis of fluted points is increasingly used to address the origins of Clovis and the "mutation" of the Clovis form into other fluted point types. Since the early 2000s, cladistics, a technique borrowed from biology, has been employed in such analyses; the results are computer-constructed cladograms that purport to illustrate pseudo-genetic phylogenies of fluted points. Here, I critically examine the utility of cladistics for addressing the issue of Clovis origins and the stylistic or functional evolution of fluted points.

Howler monkeys (genus Alouatta) display a peculiar cranial architecture, characterized by a high degree of airorhynchy. This condition may be evolutionarily influenced by a largely folivory diet (with selective pressures on mandibular and splachnocranial dimensions), social structure (related to the development of vocal sacs), or by the interaction between these or other more subtle factors. In terms of functional craniology, airorhynchy may be related to structural changes associated with the morphology of the supraorbital anatomy, with the spatial relationships between face and cranial base, or with morphogenetic variations of the pteric area. However the evolutionary changes associated with the cranial organization in Alouatta are still currently unknown. This study is aimed at investigating the variation and covariation patterns in howler monkeys, considering both inter and intrageneric morphological differences. We also investigated the structural role of the pteric area within the cranial functional matrix, in order to test possible relationships between its variation and the degree of airorhynchy. To address these objectives we applied landmark-based analysis and multivariate statistics to a comparative dataset of atelid adult skulls. Our results suggest that the cranial architecture in howlers is influenced by an allometric vector, which associates higher degrees of airorhynchy with splachnocranial enlargement, basicranial lengthening and neurocranial flattening. On the other hand, the relationship between pterion and airorhynchy could not be confirmed. Either way some minor morphological differences were identified, suggesting that variations of the pteric area may be instead related with the relative development of the masticatory apparatus.

This paper aims to explain the traditional biometric methods and the geometric morphometrics (GMM) within archaeozoology and the significant advantages and disadvantages of each type of method of measuring and recording. I will begin by looking at biometric methods of recording following on with a discussion of what is geometric morphometrics. I will also discuss the importance of the generalized procrustes paradigm (GPA) followed by what are the advantages of using geometric morphometrics and then the disadvantages compared with traditional biometrical methods of measuring and recording. Finally I will look at a number of archaeozoological examples comparing and contrasting examples where biometric methods and (GMM) have been used.

Most studies of frontal bone morphology have focused on the browridge or have analyzed the entire bone, thus mixing information from the neurocranium and facial skeleton. Yet, the frontal squama is considered to be diagnostic for modern H. sapiens who are described as having vertical or bulging frontals. The morphology of the frontal squama is influenced by its position and orientation relative to other cranial components. Hence, in this study we analyzed the shape of the frontal squama alone, independent of its orientation relative to other cranial components, and quantified its variation in Pleistocene and recent humans. We examined 37 Middle and Late Pleistocene fossils from throughout Eurasia and Africa as well as 83 recent humans from 10 different populations. We analyzed frontal squama outlines taken from the supratoral sulcus to bregma using coordinates superimpositions and multivariate statistics. Our results demonstrate that modern and archaic humans are clearly separated on the basis of frontal curvature and bulging. However, there is some overlap among modern and non-modern groups, making it difficult to use this trait when diagnosing the taxonomic affinity of individual specimens. There is no separation of fossil and recent modern humans. Among modern humans, the majority of populations are distributed along a continuum characterized by frontal flattening at one end and frontal bulging at the other. However, according to this preliminary survey the Khoisan display a different morphology from the rest of the modern sample because of their marked frontal curvature.

Many qualitative and quantitative methods for the separation of sheep and goat bones are based upon Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and European specimens. However, these methods may not be as applicable in other geographical contexts due to regional morphological variation. In order to address this, both traditional and geometric morphometric methods were applied to sheep, (Ovis aries L.) and goat (Capra hircus L.) astragali from archaeological sites from Kazakhstan dating to the Late and Final Bronze Age (1900-900 BCE). This exploratory research confirmed that qualitative features remained useful for distinguishing between species while traditional morphometric methods were unable to conclusively support the field identification of species. Geometric morphometric methods found significant morphological differences between species and confirmed group membership while exploring specific qualitative features that were effective in distinguishing between sheep and goat in Central Asian contexts.

A central problem in paleoanthropology is the identity of the last
common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans ([N-MH]
LCA). Recently developed analytical techniques now allow this
problem to be addressed using a probabilistic morphological framework.
This study provides a quantitative reconstruction of the
expected dental morphology of the [N-MH]LCA and an assessment
of whether known fossil species are compatible with this ancestral
position. We show that no known fossil species is a suitable candidate
for being the [N-MH]LCA and that all late Early and Middle
Pleistocene taxa from Europe have Neanderthal dental affinities,
pointing to the existence of a European clade originated around
1 Ma. These results are incongruent with younger molecular divergence
estimates and suggest at least one of the following must be
true: (i) European fossils and the [N-MH]LCA selectively retained
primitive dental traits; (ii) molecular estimates of the divergence
between Neanderthals and modern humans are underestimated;
or (iii) phenotypic divergence and speciation between both species
were decoupled such that phenotypic differentiation, at least in
dental morphology, predated speciation.

BSTRACT
Contemporary architecture in several parts of the world has been produced with computer resources which have allowed the construction of buildings with complex forms. The use of CAD/CAM technology allows obtaining lower costs than the serial ones in the fabrication of unique components in the construction of buildings faster, with more precision and control. In general de use of CAD in design is widely known among architects and engineers. It is known that CAD/CAM in the fabrication of components is used for long time in the naval, aerospace and car industries. However, the use of CAD/CAM in the digital fabrication of unique elements in building construction is yet rare among architects in Brasília. Also, in this context, BIM technology is not very common. This Dissertation aims to demonstrate that digital fabrication is economically promising for the construction industry. We analyzed de role played by architects along history since the time of master builders. Based on the literature review we presented examples of complex buildings designed and built with the aid of CAD/CAM systems. Following that we defined as an object for our research experiment one column of Brasilia’s Cathedral because of its complex form. We analyzed the process through which this Cathedral was designed and built. This column was computer modeled and then it was fabricated manually by a blacksmith and also by CNC machine. We compared the results of the manually and digitally fabricated columns in relation to costs, production time and precision, and its potential for mass customization. This comparison showed that the benefits of the use of CAD/CAM are promising ones.

Tool design is a cultural trait—a term long used in anthropology as a unit of transmittable information that encodes particular behavioral characteristics of individuals or groups. After they are transmitted, cultural traits serve as units of replication in that they can be modified as part of a cultural repertoire through processes such as recombination, loss, or partial alteration. Artifacts and other components of the archaeological record serve as proxies for studying the transmission (and modification) of cultural traits, provided there is analytical clarity in defining and measuring whatever it is that is being transmitted. Our interest here is in tool design, and we illustrate how to create analytical units that allow us to map tool-design space and to begin to understand how that space was used at different points in time. We first introduce the concept of fitness landscape and impose a model of cultural learning over it, then turn to four methods that are useful for the analysis of design space: paradigmatic classification, phylogenetic analysis, distance graphs, and geometric morphometrics. Each method builds on the others in logical fashion, which allows creation of testable hypotheses concerning cultural transmission and the evolutionary processes that shape it, including invention (mutation), selection, and drift. For examples, we turn to several case studies that focus on Early Paleoindian–period projectile points from eastern North America, the earliest widespread and currently recognizable remains of hunter–gatherers in late Pleistocene North America.

Gran parte de la investigación arqueológica está basada en los métodos de clasificación tradicionales de los materiales recuperados; tales métodos llevan implícita una importante carga subjetiva por parte de quienes los llevan a cabo, lo cual puede implicar errores inherentes en el proceso que pueden ser medibles, pero son difíciles de minimizar y no se pueden eliminar. Estos métodos no han tenido modificaciones significativas, por ello, se propone el uso de la Morfometría Geométrica como un método estadístico basado en análisis cuantitativos, para disminuir dicha carga subjetiva y fortalecer los grupos formados en el proceso.
La Morfometría Geométrica se basa en el análisis bidimensional o tridimensional de la forma, partiendo de un sistema definido de coordenadas sobre un objeto, para evaluar los cambios en su morfoespacio, así como su arreglo con el resto de los individuos del conjunto para formar grupos, a través de métodos de estadística multivariada de una muestra de piezas o individuos. Los conglomerados o grupos generados por estos métodos estadísticos son elementos que pueden favorecer la determinación de un estilo o tradición presente en una cultura determinada.
Se realizó un análisis a la muestra lapidaria de máscaras y figurillas de la colección Mezcala del Museo del Templo Mayor. Los resultados preliminares permiten observar que, a través del análisis de la forma y su cambio, se obtiene una reducción significativa en el número de conglomerados finales, así como grupos más consistentes y con mayor similitud entre los individuos que los integran, cuando se compara con trabajos anteriores, como la taxonomía numérica aplicada en 1986 a la misma muestra.

Researchers have debated the existence of regional variation in Clovis points for over 60 years. Here, we report an attempt to resolve this argument using a large sample of Clovis points from dated assemblages and a suite of shape analysis methods known as geometric morphometrics. The study tested the two main hypotheses that have been put forward in the debate: the continent-wide adaptation hypothesis, which holds that Clovis points do not vary regionally, and the regional environmental adaptation hypothesis, which holds that there is regional variation as a consequence of Clovis groups adjusting their food-getting toolkits to local conditions. We used discriminant function analysis and a multivariate extension of the t test to assess whether differences in shape exist at two scales. The first set of analyses compared points from the most obvious environmental regions in North America, the East and the West. The second set of analyses investigated differences among points from subregions within the East and West. The analyses revealed significant differences between points from the East and the West and among points from some subregions. Follow-up analyses demonstrated that these differences are not the result of the most common confounding factors, raw material quality and resharpening. As such, the analyses support the regional environmental adaptation hypothesis rather than the continent-wide adaptation hypothesis. We conclude from this that Clovis people modified their points to suit the characteristics of local prey and/or the habitats in which they hunted.

In order to evaluate the application of geometrical morphometrics in archaeological analyses, a comparison between this and the linear morphometric technique commonly used in archaeological studies was carried out. The methodology of both techniques is described and their performance is tested evaluating if a vessel assemblage from the Rancagua basin belongs to the LLolleo cultural complex, from the early ceramic period in Central Chile. The results indicate that the geometrical morphometry technique is able to yield new information which complements the traditional morphometric analyses.

The house mouse (Mus musculus) represents the extreme of globalization of invasive mammals. However, the timing and basis of its origin and early phases of dispersal remain poorly documented. To track its synanthropisation and subsequent invasive spread during the develoment of complex human societies, we analyzed 829 Mus specimens from 43 archaeological contexts in Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe, between 40,000 and 3,000 cal. BP, combining geometric morphometrics numerical taxonomy, ancient mitochondrial DNA and direct radiocarbon dating. We found that large late hunter-gatherer sedentary settlements in the Levant, c. 14,500 cal. BP, promoted the commensal behaviour of the house mouse, which probably led the commensal pathway to cat domestication. House mouse invasive spread was then fostered through the emergence of agriculture throughout the Near East 12,000 years ago. Stowaway transport of house mice to Cyprus can be inferred as early as 10,800 years ago. However, the...