The pneumatization of the facial skeleton in the Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) - A study based on computerized three-dimensional reconstructions

Abstract

Computerized three-dimensional images derived from coronal CT scan series of 10 adult skulls from Macaca fuscata of both sexes served to evaluate the paranasal sinuses. The maxillary sinus was found as the only paranasal sinus of the Japanese macaque. The hemispherical or kidney shaped maxillary sinus was almost restricted to the body of the maxilla. The maxillary sinus volume amounted to 0.88 cm3, with a bigger sinus in male than in female skulls. A regression analysis between the skull length and the maxillary sinus volume in the Japanese macaque and the same data of adult humans and great apes (Koppe and Schumacher, 1990) was carried out. Whereas close relations between these measurements were found in the hominoids, this relation was very weak in the Japanese macaque, suggesting that the primate maxillary sinus can't be explained solely by structural role.