A New Integrated Tool to Calculate and Map Bilateral Asymmetry on Three-Dimensional Digital Models

Author(s)
Melchionna, Marina
Profico, Antonio
Buzi, Costantino
Castiglione, Silvia
Mondanaro, Alessandro
Del Bove, Antonietta
Sansalone, Gabriele
Piras, Paolo
Raia, Pasquale
Publication Date
2021-09-07
Abstract
<p>The observation and the quantification of asymmetry in biological structures are deeply investigated in geometric morphometrics. Patterns of asymmetry were explored in both living and fossil species. In living organisms, levels of directional and fluctuating asymmetry are informative about developmental processes and health status of the individuals. Paleontologists are primarily interested in asymmetric features introduced by the taphonomic process, as they may significantly alter the original shape of the biological remains, hampering the interpretation of morphological features which may have profound evolutionary significance. Here, we provide a new R tool that produces the numerical quantification of fluctuating and directional asymmetry and charts asymmetry directly on the specimens under study, allowing the visual inspection of the asymmetry pattern. We tested this <i>show.asymmetry</i> algorithm, written in the R language, on fossil and living cranial remains of the genus <i>Homo. show.asymmetry</i> proved successful in discriminating levels of asymmetry among sexes in <i>Homo sapiens</i>, to tell apart fossil from living <i>Homo</i> skulls, to map effectively taphonomic distortion directly on the fossil skulls, and to provide evidence that digital restoration obliterates natural asymmetry to unnaturally low levels.</p>
Citation
Symmetry, 13(9), p. 1-11
ISSN
2073-8994
Link
Publisher
MDPI AG
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
Title
A New Integrated Tool to Calculate and Map Bilateral Asymmetry on Three-Dimensional Digital Models
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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