Graduation Term
Spring 2025
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Department of Sociology and Anthropology: Archaeology
Committee Chair
Shelby Putt
Committee Co-Chair
Abigail Stone
Committee Member
Kate Driscoll
Abstract
The temporal styloid process in humans serves as an attachment point for the styloglossus, stylohyoid, and stylopharyngeus, which are involved in tongue movement and deglutition. I hypothesized that the length of the ossified styloid process in humans is the result of selection for increased musculature that would support tongue movements involved in speech. This hypothesis assumes that the relative length of the ossified temporal styloid process is unique to humans. A comparative analysis of the presence or absence of the temporal styloid process was conducted on ten genera of Old-World primates, and it was found that the length of this structure is not unique to humans but also exists in baboons. However, the consistency of the bilateral presence of an ossified temporal styloid process was observed to be unique in humans, perhaps due to cranial covariation and bipedal locomotion. In Papio, the styloid ligament, styloglossus, stylohyoid, and stylopharyngeus attach to the styloid process in a comparable manner to the human soft tissue articulations. This suggests that the ossified temporal styloid process that is present in humans and baboons could be a convergent evolutionary structure, therefore its presence does not concretely indicate a species’ capacity for speech.
Access Type
Thesis-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Martin, Sommer A., "Investigation of the Human Temporal Styloid Process as a Bony Indicator of Speech" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 2088.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/2088
