Figure 1.

Mandible of recent 2–3 year old Homo sapiens (American Museum of Natural History, uncatalogued) illustrating the essential features of the symphyseal region. (Upper) Anterior view showing the central keel, which broadens at the mental tuberosity, fans out inferiorly, and terminates bilaterally in blunt “corners.” (Lower) Inferior view showing the marked thickness of the mandible in the symphyseal region compared to the corpus behind it and the contribution of the marginal attributes of the mental tuberosity to mandibular shape. Not to scale.