Occipital hemi-bun development and shape covariation in a longitudinal extant human growth sample.

OBJECTIVES Although the homology of the Neanderthal occipital bun and anatomically modern human "hemi-bun" has long been debated, little is known about the developmental timing and patterning of these two patterns of prominent occipital squama convexity. In this study, occipital hemi-bun ontogeny and cranial shape covariation are assessed in a comparative extant human sample. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two-dimensional geometric morphometric methods were used to investigate hemi-bun development in a longitudinal sample of growth study cephalograms representing extant human subjects predominantly of European ancestry. Subjects were each measured at three distinct age points, ranging from 3.0 to 20.4 years, and two-block partial least squares analysis was used to assess patterns of covariation between midsagittal occipital bone morphology and other aspects of craniofacial shape. RESULTS Occipital hemi-bun morphology, when present, was found to develop early in ontogeny, in association with anteroposterior elongation of the frontal and parietal bones. No significant pattern of covariation was found between occipital hemi-bun shape and cranial/basicranial breadth, basicranial length, basicranial angle, or midfacial prognathism. DISCUSSION This study suggests that the occipital hemi-bun, at least in this extant human population, should not be considered an independent trait, as its development is closely linked to shape variation in the frontal and parietal bones. Importantly, these results suggest that occipital hemi-bun morphology is not significantly influenced by basicranial morphology during development, but instead covaries with changes in midsagittal neurocranial vault shape.