Synopsis top ↑
With this atlas on ``Epigenetic Variants of the Human Skull'' Hauser and
De Stefano produced a much required reference work on minor cranial
variants. These traits were named epigenetic since they may be seen as
products of genetically determined growth processes of other tissues
(e.g. nerves, vessels and muscles) affecting bone
information. Consequently they may undergo modification during
ontogeny in the presence of modifying genes or relevant environmental
conditions and generally show variable degrees of expression. Many of
these variants had already been described mainly as mere skeletal
anomalies. Renewed interest resulted when crosses between inbred
strains of mice established the potential value of minor skeletal
variants in genetic studies. But in the light of the new experiences
one may ask if the characters selected were the most useful for their
purpose? Are they easy to identify, and are their definitions
rigorous and unambigous ? What is known about their embryology and
development, their genetic control? Was their categorisation adequate?
Are they of any general medical, forensic or surgical relevance? What
is the extent of intrapopulation variation in incidence ? How do they
vary between populations ? This atlas endeavores to answer such
questions and to serve as a reference text. The entry of each of the
84 characters summarises its nomenclature, gross anatomy, function,
embryology and growth, genetics, medical relevance, sex differences,
symmetry (if the character is bilateral), laterality or side
preference, age variation, association with other traits, and methods
of scoring (the traditional as well as that now proposed). For some
traits new results are given applying the proposed methods to male
adult skulls of recorded age and origin as well as the frequencies of
the variants investigated by traditional methods in a selection of the
populations of the world from the literature.
The high quality photographs and the overlays (in colour) on the five main views of the skull illustrate each character clearly, better than any verbal definition. The collaboration of 13 international scientists specialised in different fields emphasizes the high quality of this book, and its usefulness for many disciplines as Human Biology and related sciences, Human Genetics, Forensic Medicine, Radiology, Surgery etc.
A most extensive bibliography and a synoptical index conclude this reference work which confronts specialists of Human Biology, Anthropology, Medicine, Biology and Genetics with a fascinating problem but is also most useful and comprehensible for students.