[The torus palatinus].

The existing investigations about the Torus palatinus are not comparable. The tori are not described in all morphological details and very often without quantitative registrations. The present paper tries to show an economic way of quantifying and describing the Torus palatinus. Skulls from Griesheim (Kreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Western Germany; "Fränkisches Gräberfeld"), Langd (Kreis Giessen, West Germany; "Alter Friedhof"), India and Pakistan, as well as crania of a population of chimpanzees from Eastern Liberia have been investigated. In the series from Griesheim and Langd the Torus palatinus was found in 32.7% and 34.5% respectively, in the examined crania from India and Pakistan the torus appears only in 3.7% of the individuals. The skulls of the chimpanzees from Eastern Liberia show the Torus palatinus much more frequently than it has been observed until now (in 17% of the crania).