Evolutionary Changes in the Craniofacial Morphology of Primates

s 343 Folia Primatol 2004;75:341–354 consumption is occasional or limited for Microcebus, Cheirogaleus and Mirza, gum is the dominant food source for Phaner and Allocebus. Craniofacial shape variations were analysed using geometric morphometrics: methods based on landmarks identification (Procrustes superimpositions) were chosen for skull shape analysis, and methods based on outline decomposition (elliptical Fourier functions) for the study of mandible shape. The morphospaces obtained at the level of the infraorder appear to be highly constrained by dietary habits, especially in the case of the mandibles. At the finer level of the Cheirogaleidae family, the analyses permit us (1) to separate craniomandibular shape variations associated with the two dietary categories and (2) among the omnivorous category, to distinguish the fluctuations associated with the percentage of gum consumption. Craniofacial Variation and Adaptive Diversity in Early Hominids: Some Morphometric Aspects