Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 22.djvu/250

238 However, its anthropological importance and utility are not wholly dependent on its physiological, morphological, or phylogenetic significance, but in great part on its relative frequency. According to all authors consulted the fossa pharyngea is a rather uncommon structure both in man and other animals. Perna and Agostino give very little data on its frequency. Romiti found it five times in 700 crania (0.7%). He quotes Gruber as finding it 46 times in 4000 to 5000 skulls or in about 1 percent of the cases examined. Le Double records its frequency as 1.4 percent on the basis of 5000 skulls examined. Rossi is the only author to my knowledge who has attempted to segregate his material racially. His results follow:

The only conclusion one may draw from the above data is that the fossa pharyngea is of relatively rare occurrence and certainly

TABLE I