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The diploic venous system of extant chimpanzees and gorillas

Le système veineux diploïque des chimpanzés et gorilles
Jiaming Hui et Antoine Balzeau

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1The evolution of brain is accompanied with the adaptation of its supporting system, especially the cranial vascular network involved in brain metabolism and thermoregulation. The diploic vessels are key to the cranial blood circulation, as it links the intra- and extra-cranial vessels. Some hypothesized that the diploic venous system in hominids evolved to be more developed as the brain volume increases. However, there is no clear evidence supporting the potential association. The diploic venous system in relatively small-brained hominids is largely unexplored, and thus the evolutionary polarity remains unclear. In this context, this study aims to complete the descriptions of the diploic venous system in extant non-human hominids, testing the hypothesized correlation between brain and diploic vessels. With Micro-CT scanning data, this study examined the dry skulls from the French national museum of natural history, including 18 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), 15 gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), and 28 European extant humans. By inspecting the diploic venous channels in 2D tomographic images and 3D cranial models, we record and compare the draining patterns and intensity level among the sample groups. The results show that the drainage routes in chimpanzees, gorillas, and extant humans are generally similar. However, chimpanzees possess a unique network in the sphenoid bone, which could function as a shortcut between the paranasal sinuses and cavernous sinus. Also, in 25% of chimpanzee specimens, the sphenoid network could function as the stem of meningeal vessels. These anatomical features do not manifest in other groups and they have not been recorded in previous studies. Finally, compared with extant humans, the smaller-brained chimpanzees and gorillas generally possess much less developed diploic venous networks, with smaller branch sizes and fewer ramifications. Future studies are warranted to include orangutan specimens and small-brained hominin fossils to complete the evolutionary trajectory of the diploic venous system.

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Jiaming Hui et Antoine Balzeau, « The diploic venous system of extant chimpanzees and gorillas »Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris [En ligne], 37(S) | 2025, mis en ligne le 16 janvier 2025, consulté le 08 février 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/15004 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/133oq

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Auteurs

Jiaming Hui

UMR 7194 – Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique (HNHP), PaleoFED team, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Musée de l’Homme, Paris, France ; Sorbonne Université, Paris, France ; jiaming.hui[at]etu.sorbonne-universite.fr

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Antoine Balzeau

UMR 7194 – Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique (HNHP), PaleoFED team, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Musée de l’Homme, Paris, France ; Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium

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Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.

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