Abstract

After a brief flowering in the late 19th/early 20th centuries and some sporadic later contributions before the Millennium, the science of paranasal pneumatisation (or sinuses) has recently blossomed into a legitimate field of enquiry, due to new types of imaging, methods of analysis and, significantly, better questions being asked. We now have a complete picture of the distribution of the various sinuses in primates, and an inkling of their wider occurrence across vertebrates, as well, which allows hypotheses about their function and phylogeny to be addressed with some rigour. Many hypothesised functional links with climate (particularly cold stress) and biomechanics have been falsified for extant and extinct primates; the challenge remains to determine the precise biological role of these odd outpocketings of the nasal cavity.