With this atlas on ``Epigenetic Variants of the Human Skull'' Hauser and De Stefano produced a
much required reference work on minor cranial variants. These traits were named epigenetic
since they may be seen as products of genetically determined growth processes of other tissues
(e.g. nerves vessels and muscles) affecting bone information. Consequently they may undergo
modification during ontogeny in the presence of modifying genes or relevant environmental
conditions and generally show variable degrees of expression. Many of these variants had
already been described mainly as mere skeletal anomalies. Renewed interest resulted when
crosses between inbred strains of mice established the potential value of minor skeletal
variants in genetic studies. But in the light of the new experiences one may ask if the
characters selected were the most useful for their purpose? Are they easy to identify and are
their definitions rigorous and unambigous ? What is known about their embryology and
development their genetic control? Was their categorisation adequate? Are they of any general
medical forensic or surgical relevance? What is the extent of intrapopulation variation in
incidence ? How do they vary between populations ? This atlas endeavores to answer such
questions and to serve as a reference text. The entry of each of the 84 characters summarises
its nomenclature gross anatomy function embryology and growth genetics medical relevance
sex differences symmetry (if the character is bilateral) laterality or side preference age
variation association with other traits and methods of scoring (the traditional as well as
that now proposed). For some traits new results are given applying the proposed methods to male
adult skulls of recorded age and origin as well as the frequencies of the variants investigated
by traditional methods in a selection of the populations of the world from the literature. The
high quality photographs and the overlays (in colour) on the five main views of the skull
illustrate each character clearly better than any verbal definition. The collaboration of 13
international scientists specialised in different fields emphasizes the high quality of this
book and its usefulness for many disciplines as Human Biology and related sciences Human
Genetics Forensic Medicine Radiology Surgery etc. A most extensive bibliography and a
synoptical index conclude this reference work which confronts specialists of Human Biology
Anthropology Medicine Biology and Genetics with a fascinating problem but is also most useful
and comprehensible for students.
