Morphometry of auditory ossicles in medieval human remains from Central Europe |
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Authors: | Marta Krenz-Niedba?a Sylwia ?ukasik Jakub Macudziński Szymon Chowański |
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Institution: | 1. Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poznań, Poland;2. Institute of Human Biology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poznań, Poland
Contribution: ?Investigation (equal);3. Department of Animal Physiology and Development, Institute of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poznań, Poland
Contribution: Resources (equal) |
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Abstract: | Human auditory ossicles, the malleus, the incus, and the stapes, are located in the tympanic cavity in the temporal bone and through forming a chain for the sound transmission from the tympanic membrane to the cochlea, they play an important role in the hearing process. Despite their clinical, phylogenetic, and evolutionary significance, the morphometry of the human ear bones has not been examined systematically. The ear ossicles are the smallest bones of the human skeleton, attaining their final size and morphology already at birth. Initially, they have been found to exhibit minimal morphometric variation, but further studies brought the opposite results. The aim of this study was to examine the morphometric variation of human auditory ossicles recovered from medieval and postmedieval subadult skeletons from Poland, Central Europe. The analysis involved in a total of 166 ear bones. Their measurements were performed on microscopic images using CorelDraw x4, according to a protocol of Quam and Rak with modification of Flohr et al. and Wadhwa et al. Our study showed a significant metric variation in the measurements taken at areas of the greatest morphological variability of the ossicles. We found that greater linear dimensions were associated with lower values of angular measurements. These results reveal the inherent variation found in these supposed functionally constrained structures. Representation of even greater number of populations, time periods, and developmental stages are needed. Further study will expand our understanding of the global scope of variation found in ear ossicular morphology and its functional implications for paleoanthropology. |
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Keywords: | bioarchaeology metric variation microscopic images Middle Ages middle ear bones morphometry ossicular chain skeletal human population |
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