Crest

As a crown comb ( crista sagittal ) is referred to in the anatomy of a preferred median bone strip which from the calvarium peaking and usually from occiput to the frontal bone inside - that is, along the apex or the sagittal suture - expands. Many mammals and reptiles in particular have a crest .

The crest of the mammals serves primarily as the upper starting point and abutment for the masticatory muscles and therefore remains largely hidden between these muscles in living animals; consequently, crests of the crown are often only noticeable as a distinctive feature in the skeletonized specimen. In the case of fossils , crests of the crown are regularly used as a sign of particularly pronounced chewing tools and - together with other anatomical features, especially of the teeth - allow conclusions to be drawn about food intake.

The crest is particularly pronounced, for example, in the lowland tapir , the gorilla and the species of the fossil hominids - genus Paranthropus .

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  Head crest at Paranthropus aethiopicus

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  The crown of the cave bear

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  The crown of the gorilla

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  The crown of the tapir

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  Parting comb in the dog

literature

• Winfried Henke , Hartmut Rothe : Tribal history of humans. Springer Verlag, Berlin 1999, p. 136