The skull is distinguished from other parts of the skeleton by its composite construction. The
sutures between bony elements provide for interstitial growth of the cranium, but at the same …

Among non-mammalian vertebrates, rigid skulls with tight sutural junctions are associated
with high levels of cranial loading. The rigid skulls of mammals presumably act to resist the …

Maya adult crania from the site of Lamanai, Belize provide a retrospective means of
examining growth processes in the cranial vault. The Lamanai population practiced fronto …

Cranial bones and sutures are mechanically loaded during mastication. Their response to
masticatory strain, however, is largely unknown, especially in the context of age change …

Background The transmission of force through the skull is complicated by the irregular form
of the bones, the interposed sutures, and the multiplicity of loads from the teeth, muscles …

Many bones in mammalian skulls are linked together by cranial sutures, connective tissue
joints that are morphologically variable and show different levels of interdigitation among …

Although cranial sutures presumably play a role in absorbing and/or transmitting loads
applied to the skull, loading patterns on facial sutures are poorly understood. The zygomatic …

In addition to their role in skull growth, sutures are sites of flexibility between the more rigid
bones. Depending on the suture, predominant loading during life may be either tensile or …

It has been proposed that the mammalian facial skeleton is optimized for countering or
dissipating masticatory stress. As optimized load-bearing structures by definition exhibit …

The material properties of cortical bone from the diaphyses of long bones (eg, the femur and
tibia) vary by direction, such that bone is stiffer and stronger along its long axis. This …