Morphologic relationship between the hyoid bone and the viscerocranium in a sample of skeletons

Abstract

Introduction: Body movement obeys and produces activity in the skeletal muscle for which there must be a static muscle equilibrium that produces the movement of the anatomic elements involved in it, either as a result of volition or as the unconscious perception of a stimulus. Objective: To associate the morphological behavior of the hyoid bone with some morphological variables of the viscerocranium of skeletons (except the jaw). Material and Methods: An osteological study was carried out in a bone sample of 82 skulls by performing morphometric measurements of the hyoid bone and the bones of the viscerocranium. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and SPSS Version 22 were used to evaluate the relationship between the morphology of the hyoid bone and the facial bones. Morphological variables of the viscerocranium include: bizygomatic width (BW), external transverse width of the hard palate (ETWHP), external sagittal width of the hard palate (ESWHP), and the height of the middle third of the face (MTF). Results: A very strong positive correlation between different morphological variables of the hyoid bone, —both at the level of its antlers or greater horns— and the morphological variables of the viscerocranium was obtained. Conclusions: These findings corroborate the association between the hyoid bone and the growth of facial bones.

Keywords

• hioides, crecimiento óseo, antropología.