Epigenetic variants of the human skull

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.