期刊
JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
卷 57, 期 1, 页码 48-62出版社
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.04.004
关键词
Virtual reconstruction; Geometric morphometrics; Thin-plate spline; Procrustes; Missing data; Semilandmarks; Taung; Nariokotome; Arago
资金
- FWF [P14738]
- Austrian Council for Science and Technology [GZ.200.093/1-VI/I/2004]
- EU FP6 Marie Curie Actions [MRTN-CT-2005-019564]
- Max Planck Society
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P14738] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
Fossils are usually discovered broken or distorted, therefore reconstruction is inevitably the first step towards any comparative analysis. We outline a general methodological framework by which missing information about biological specimens can be estimated using geometric morphometric methods and discuss how this relates to effective paleoanthropological use of incomplete and distorted crania. Combining digital data resources with geometric morphometrics, we go beyond the assembly of fragments on the computer. As in a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, we first assemble the virtual pieces manually. Then we use landmarks, several hundred semilandmarks, and information from complete specimens to estimate missing coordinates and correct for distortion simultaneously. One can thus incorporate information from incomplete specimens in a comparative morphometric analysis while keeping track of the uncertainties that result from partial preservation or deformation. We exemplify our approach by reconstructing the fossil crania Arago XXI, Taung, and KNM-WT 15000. As different assumptions and algorithms lead to different estimations, there exists no all-purpose reconstruction. Instead one creates multiple reconstructions-a posterior distribution in a Bayesian sense. This distribution reflects uncertainty due to missing data values and sensitivity to prior assumptions. While there will typically be shape differences among equally plausible reconstructions, these different estimates might still support a single conclusion. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据