Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 12.1
Landmarks of the human skull commonly used in geometric morphometrics. (Note: not all
landmarks that can be used are identified in this figure, just the most common.) Left
d
anterior view that depicts
facial and mandibular landmarks; middle
d
lateral view with lateral facial, vault, and mandible landmarks;
right
d
inferior view showing landmarks of the basicranium and palate. Landmark names by number are provided.
(Note: some bilateral landmarks are only visible from left lateral perspective; nevertheless, there is a right antimere
that is not depicted).
Type II and III landmarks useful for both craniometrics and coordinate-based analyses (e.g.
metopion, parietal subtense point, vertex radius point, opisthocranion, and occipital sub-
tense point). Additionally, the coordinates associated with these arcs could be used as semi-
landmarks to analyze the profile outlines (see discussion of semilandmarks in the next
section).
3Skull employs the coordinate data to calculate a complete set of
Howells' (1973)
measure-
ments that are in turn utilized to error check many of the landmark coordinates. Both the
three-dimensional coordinates and the craniometrics are saved in separate databases. Users
can create a custom landmark list, although the current landmark database is fairly exhaus-
tive. An accessory program can calculate the distance between any set of landmarks, allow-
ing researchers to utilize unconventional measurements in traditional morphometric
analyses. The program is distributed as freeware and researchers interested in this program
