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Cephalic index viewed from above the head. The cephalic index or cranial index is a number obtained by taking the maximum width (biparietal diameter or BPD, side to side) of the head of an organism, multiplying it by 100 and then dividing it by their maximum length (occipitofrontal diameter or OFD, front to back).
The cephalic index of a vertebrate is the ratio between the width (side to side) and length (front to back) of its cranium (skull). This ratio does not concern the muzzle or face, and thus is distinct from the craniofacial ratio, which compares the size of the cranium to the length of the muzzle.
Swedish professor of anatomy Anders Retzius (1796–1860) first used the cephalic index in physical anthropology to classify ancient human remains found in Europe. He classified brains into three main categories, "dolichocephalic" (from the Ancient Greek kephalê, head, and dolikhos, long and thin), "brachycephalic" (short and broad) and "mesocephalic" (intermediate length and width).
The usefulness of the cephalic index was questioned by Giuseppe Sergi, who argued that cranial morphology provided a better means to model racial ancestry. [2] When pathological, it is known as flat head syndrome, and it results from premature fusion of the coronal sutures, or from external deformation.
Ripley's map of cephalic index in Europe, from The Races of Europe (1899). Ripley's book, written to help finance his children's education, became very well respected in anthropology, renowned for its careful writing and careful compilation (and criticism) of the data of many other anthropologists in Europe and the United States.
The cephalic index is the ratio of the width of the head, multiplied by 100 and divided by its length (front to back). The index is also used to categorize animals, especially dogs and cats. The width is usually measured just below the parietal eminence, and the length from the glabella to the occipital point. Humans may be:
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The Alpine race is short-headed and broad-faced. The cephalic index is about 88 on the average, the facial index under 83. In the Alpine race the length of the head is only a little or barely greater than the breadth, owing to the relatively considerable measurement of this latter. The Alpine head may be called round.