A Bilateral Division of the Parietal Bone in a Chimpanzee; with a Special Reference to the Oblique Sutures in the Parietal

Besides the above-mentioned complete division, Ranke found among the 245 orang skulls 13 with incomplete division of the parietal bone. The division consisted invariably of a longer or shorter remnant of a horizontal parietal suture, ending in the coronal suture at the top of the bend above referred to. A similar anterior remnant of an abnormal parietal suture was found by Ranke in a young chimpanzee skull; but the author questions the word chimpanzee, which evidently means that the identity of the skull is somewhat doubtful.

Fig. 1. Division of the Right Parietal in an Orang (Ranke, Abh. d. k. bayer. Akad. d. Wiss., II cl., XX Bd., ii Abth.).
The most interesting part of Chico is unquestionably the skull. The divisions of the parietal bones which the specimen presents are not only the first complete divisions of the parietal observed in a chimpanzee, but are also unique in character, no divisions of the same nature having been observed before, either in man, in apes, or in monkeys. The position and extent of the divisions in this skull will throw considerable light on the question of the aberrant, complete divisions of the parietal bone, by which term may be designated divisions differing from the typical horizontal ones.
The skull under consideration shows in general a good development and an almost perfect symmetry. The capacity of the brain cavity, measured according to Flower's method, is 390 c.c.
The masculine features of this skull, and particularly the temporal ridges, are not quite as marked as those of another skull of an adolescent male chimpanzee in the Museum. The temporal ridges are slightly prominent, and in their middle third, over part of the frontal and the parietal bones, not more pronounced than in some human crania. They are, however, situated very high. Their upper lines or boundaries touch each other over a part of the sagittal suture, a little back of the bregma; while the lower lines approach to within 6 mm. of the sagittal suture. The supraorbital ridges are not very massive, although prominent to such a degree that, when the skull rests on the occipital condyles and on the teeth, the plane of the orbits is almost vertical. The sagittal crest is insignificant; the occipital crest is high, but not very massive. The zygomatic arches are less strong than they are in an average white male; and the mastoids are small, even smaller than in an average adult white female.