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The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis

Homo floresiensis is a small-bodied hominin from Flores, Indonesia, that exhibits plesiomorphic dentognathic features, including large premolars and a robust mandible, aspects of which have been considered australopith-like. However, relative to australopith species, H. floresiensis exhibits reduced...

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Autores principales: Cook, Rebecca W., Vazzana, Antonino, Sorrentino, Rita, Benazzi, Stefano, Smith, Amanda L., Strait, David S., Ledogar, Justin A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8361579/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34938433
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2020.0083
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author Cook, Rebecca W.
Vazzana, Antonino
Sorrentino, Rita
Benazzi, Stefano
Smith, Amanda L.
Strait, David S.
Ledogar, Justin A.
author_facet Cook, Rebecca W.
Vazzana, Antonino
Sorrentino, Rita
Benazzi, Stefano
Smith, Amanda L.
Strait, David S.
Ledogar, Justin A.
author_sort Cook, Rebecca W.
collection PubMed
description Homo floresiensis is a small-bodied hominin from Flores, Indonesia, that exhibits plesiomorphic dentognathic features, including large premolars and a robust mandible, aspects of which have been considered australopith-like. However, relative to australopith species, H. floresiensis exhibits reduced molar size and a cranium with diminutive midfacial dimensions similar to those of later Homo, suggesting a reduction in the frequency of forceful biting behaviours. Our study uses finite-element analysis to examine the feeding biomechanics of the H. floresiensis cranium. We simulate premolar (P(3)) and molar (M(2)) biting in a finite-element model (FEM) of the H. floresiensis holotype cranium (LB1) and compare the mechanical results with FEMs of chimpanzees, modern humans and a sample of australopiths (MH1, Sts 5, OH5). With few exceptions, strain magnitudes in LB1 resemble elevated levels observed in modern Homo. Our analysis of LB1 suggests that H. floresiensis could produce bite forces with high mechanical efficiency, but was subject to tensile jaw joint reaction forces during molar biting, which perhaps constrained maximum postcanine bite force production. The inferred feeding biomechanics of H. floresiensis closely resemble modern humans, suggesting that this pattern may have been present in the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens and H. floresiensis.
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spelling pubmed-83615792022-02-02 The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis Cook, Rebecca W. Vazzana, Antonino Sorrentino, Rita Benazzi, Stefano Smith, Amanda L. Strait, David S. Ledogar, Justin A. Interface Focus Articles Homo floresiensis is a small-bodied hominin from Flores, Indonesia, that exhibits plesiomorphic dentognathic features, including large premolars and a robust mandible, aspects of which have been considered australopith-like. However, relative to australopith species, H. floresiensis exhibits reduced molar size and a cranium with diminutive midfacial dimensions similar to those of later Homo, suggesting a reduction in the frequency of forceful biting behaviours. Our study uses finite-element analysis to examine the feeding biomechanics of the H. floresiensis cranium. We simulate premolar (P(3)) and molar (M(2)) biting in a finite-element model (FEM) of the H. floresiensis holotype cranium (LB1) and compare the mechanical results with FEMs of chimpanzees, modern humans and a sample of australopiths (MH1, Sts 5, OH5). With few exceptions, strain magnitudes in LB1 resemble elevated levels observed in modern Homo. Our analysis of LB1 suggests that H. floresiensis could produce bite forces with high mechanical efficiency, but was subject to tensile jaw joint reaction forces during molar biting, which perhaps constrained maximum postcanine bite force production. The inferred feeding biomechanics of H. floresiensis closely resemble modern humans, suggesting that this pattern may have been present in the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens and H. floresiensis. The Royal Society 2021-08-13 /pmc/articles/PMC8361579/ /pubmed/34938433 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2020.0083 Text en © 2021 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Articles
Cook, Rebecca W.
Vazzana, Antonino
Sorrentino, Rita
Benazzi, Stefano
Smith, Amanda L.
Strait, David S.
Ledogar, Justin A.
The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis
title The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis
title_full The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis
title_fullStr The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis
title_full_unstemmed The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis
title_short The cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of Homo floresiensis
title_sort cranial biomechanics and feeding performance of homo floresiensis
topic Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8361579/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34938433
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2020.0083
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