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Bleuze MM. Changes in limb bone diaphyseal structure in chimpanzees during development. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 184:e24942. [PMID: 38602254 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 02/24/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study tests if femoral and humeral cross-sectional geometry (CSG) and cross-sectional properties (CSPs) in an ontogenetic series of wild-caught chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ssp.) reflect locomotor behavior during development. The goal is to clarify the relationship between limb bone structure and locomotor behavior during ontogeny in Pan. MATERIALS AND METHODS The latex cast method was used to reconstruct cross sections at the midshaft femur and mid-distal humerus. Second moments of area (SMAs) (Ix, Iy, Imax, Imin), which are proportional to bending rigidity about a specified axis, and the polar SMA (J), which is proportional to average bending rigidity, were calculated at section locations. Cross-sectional shape (CSS) was assessed from Ix/Iy and Imax/Imin ratios. Juvenile and adult subsamples were compared. RESULTS Juveniles and adults have significantly greater femoral J compared to humeral J. Mean interlimb proportions of J are not significantly different between the groups. There is an overall decreasing trend in diaphyseal circularity between the juvenile phase of development and adulthood, although significant differences are only found in the humerus. DISCUSSION Juvenile chimpanzee locomotion includes forelimb- and hindlimb-biased behaviors. Juveniles and adults preferentially load their hindlimbs relative to their forelimbs. This may indicate similar locomotor behavior, although other explanations including a diversity of hindlimb-biased locomotor behaviors in juveniles cannot be ruled out. Different ontogenetic trends in forelimb and hindlimb CSS are consistent with limb bone CSG reflecting functional adaptation, albeit the complex nature of bone functional adaptation requires cautious interpretations of skeletal functional morphology from biomechanical analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele M Bleuze
- Institutional affiliation: Department of Anthropology, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
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2
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Lukova A, Dunmore CJ, Bachmann S, Synek A, Pahr DH, Kivell TL, Skinner MM. Trabecular architecture of the distal femur in extant hominids. J Anat 2024; 245:156-180. [PMID: 38381116 PMCID: PMC11161831 DOI: 10.1111/joa.14026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Extant great apes are characterized by a wide range of locomotor, postural and manipulative behaviours that each require the limbs to be used in different ways. In addition to external bone morphology, comparative investigation of trabecular bone, which (re-)models to reflect loads incurred during life, can provide novel insights into bone functional adaptation. Here, we use canonical holistic morphometric analysis (cHMA) to analyse the trabecular morphology in the distal femoral epiphysis of Homo sapiens (n = 26), Gorilla gorilla (n = 14), Pan troglodytes (n = 15) and Pongo sp. (n = 9). We test two predictions: (1) that differing locomotor behaviours will be reflected in differing trabecular architecture of the distal femur across Homo, Pan, Gorilla and Pongo; (2) that trabecular architecture will significantly differ between male and female Gorilla due to their different levels of arboreality but not between male and female Pan or Homo based on previous studies of locomotor behaviours. Results indicate that trabecular architecture differs among extant great apes based on their locomotor repertoires. The relative bone volume and degree of anisotropy patterns found reflect habitual use of extended knee postures during bipedalism in Homo, and habitual use of flexed knee posture during terrestrial and arboreal locomotion in Pan and Gorilla. Trabecular architecture in Pongo is consistent with a highly mobile knee joint that may vary in posture from extension to full flexion. Within Gorilla, trabecular architecture suggests a different loading of knee in extension/flexion between females and males, but no sex differences were found in Pan or Homo, supporting our predictions. Inter- and intra-specific variation in trabecular architecture of distal femur provides a comparative context to interpret knee postures and, in turn, locomotor behaviours in fossil hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Lukova
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
| | - Christopher J. Dunmore
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
| | - Sebastian Bachmann
- Institute of Lightweight Design and Structural BiomechanicsTU WienWienAustria
| | - Alexander Synek
- Institute of Lightweight Design and Structural BiomechanicsTU WienWienAustria
| | - Dieter H. Pahr
- Institute of Lightweight Design and Structural BiomechanicsTU WienWienAustria
- Department of Anatomy and Biomechanics, Division BiomechanicsKarl Landsteiner University of Health SciencesKremsAustria
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- Department of Human OriginsMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
| | - Matthew M. Skinner
- Department of Human OriginsMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
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3
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Powell VCR, Barr WA, Hammond AS, Wood BA. Behavioral and phylogenetic correlates of limb length proportions in extant apes and monkeys: Implications for interpreting hominin fossils. J Hum Evol 2024; 190:103494. [PMID: 38564844 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The body proportions of extant animals help inform inferences about the behaviors of their extinct relatives, but relationships between body proportions, behavior, and phylogeny in extant primates remain unclear. Advances in behavioral data, molecular phylogenies, and multivariate analytical tools make it an opportune time to perform comprehensive comparative analyses of primate traditional limb length proportions (e.g., intermembral, humerofemoral, brachial, and crural indices), body size-adjusted long bone proportions, and principal components. In this study we used a mix of newly-collected and published data to investigate whether and how the limb length proportions of a diverse sample of primates, including monkeys, apes, and modern humans, are influenced by behavior and phylogeny. We reconfirm that the intermembral index, followed by the first principal component of traditional limb length proportions, is the single most effective variable distinguishing hominoids and other anthropoids. Combined limb length proportions and positional behaviors are strongly correlated in extant anthropoid groups, but phylogeny is a better predictor of limb length proportion variation than of behavior. We confirm convergences between members of the Atelidae and extant apes (especially Pan), members of the Hylobatidae and Pongo, and a potential divergence of Presbytis limb proportions from some other cercopithecoids, which correlate with adaptations for forelimb-dominated behaviors in some colobines. Collectively, these results substantiate hypotheses indicating that extinct hominins and other hominoid taxa can be distinguished by analyzing combinations of their limb length proportions at different taxonomic levels. From these results, we hypothesize that fossil skeletons characterized by notably disparate limb length proportions are unlikely to have exhibited similar behavioral patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vance C R Powell
- Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, 520 W St. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20059, USA; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 20052, USA.
| | - W Andrew Barr
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 20052, USA
| | - Ashley S Hammond
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), New York, N.Y., 10024, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology at AMNH, New York, N.Y., 10024, USA
| | - Bernard A Wood
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 20052, USA
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4
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Kralick AE, Zemel BS, Nolan C, Lin P, Tocheri MW. Relative leg-to-arm skeletal strength proportions in orangutans by species and sex. J Hum Evol 2024; 188:103496. [PMID: 38412694 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Among extant great apes, orangutans climb most frequently. However, Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) exhibit higher frequencies of terrestrial locomotion than do Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii). Variation in long bone cross-sectional geometry is known to reflect differential loading of the limbs. Thus, Bornean orangutans should show greater relative leg-to-arm strength than their Sumatran counterparts. Using skeletal specimens from museum collections, we measured two cross-sectional geometric measures of bone strength: the polar section modulus (Zpol) and the ratio of maximum to minimum area moments of inertia (Imax/Imin), at the midshaft of long bones in Bornean (n = 19) and Sumatran adult orangutans (n = 12) using medical CT and peripheral quantitative CT scans, and compared results to published data of other great apes. Relative leg-to-arm strength was quantified using ratios of femur and tibia over humerus, radius, and ulna, respectively. Differences between orangutan species and between sexes in median ratios were assessed using Wilcoxon rank sum tests. The tibia of Bornean orangutans was stronger relative to the humerus and the ulna than in Sumatran orangutans (p = 0.008 and 0.025, respectively), consistent with behavioral studies that indicate higher frequencies of terrestrial locomotion in the former. In three Zpol ratios, adult female orangutans showed greater leg-to-arm bone strength compared to flanged males, which may relate to females using their legs more during arboreal locomotion than in adult flanged males. A greater amount of habitat discontinuity on Borneo compared to Sumatra has been posited as a possible explanation for observed interspecific differences in locomotor behaviors, but recent camera trap studies has called this into question. Alternatively, greater frequencies of terrestriality in Pongo pygmaeus may be due to the absence of tigers on Borneo. The results of this study are consistent with the latter explanation given that habitat continuity was greater a century ago when our study sample was collected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra E Kralick
- Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, USA.
| | - Babette S Zemel
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Clara Nolan
- Fine Arts Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Phillip Lin
- Stockdale High School, Bakersfield, CA, 93311, USA
| | - Matthew W Tocheri
- Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1, Canada; Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20013, USA; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, NSW, 2522, Australia
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5
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Kralick AE, O'Connell CA, Bastian ML, Hoke MK, Zemel BS, Schurr TG, Tocheri MW. Beyond Dimorphism: Body Size Variation Among Adult Orangutans Is Not Dichotomous by Sex. Integr Comp Biol 2023; 63:907-921. [PMID: 37061788 PMCID: PMC10563650 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 04/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Among extant great apes, orangutans are considered the most sexually dimorphic in body size. However, the expression of sexual dimorphism in orangutans is more complex than simply males being larger than females. At sexual maturity, some male orangutans develop cheek pads (flanges), while other males remain unflanged even after becoming reproductively capable. Sometimes flange development is delayed in otherwise sexually mature males for a few years. In other cases, flange development is delayed for many years or decades, with some males even spending their entire lifespan as unflanged adults. Thus, unflanged males of various chronological ages can be mistakenly identified as "subadults." Unflanged adult males are typically described as "female-sized," but this may simply reflect the fact that unflanged male body size has only ever been measured in peri-pubescent individuals. In this study, we measured the skeletons of 111 wild adult orangutans (Pongo spp.), including 20 unflanged males, 45 flanged males, and 46 females, resulting in the largest skeletal sample of unflanged males yet studied. We assessed long bone lengths (as a proxy for stature) for all 111 individuals and recorded weights-at-death, femoral head diameters, bi-iliac breadths, and long bone cross-sectional areas (CSA) (as proxies for mass) for 27 of these individuals, including seven flanged males, three adult confirmed-unflanged males, and three young adult likely-unflanged males. ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests with Tukey and Dunn post-hoc pairwise comparisons, respectively, showed that body sizes for young adult unflanged males are similar to those of the adult females in the sample (all P ≥ 0.09 except bi-iliac breadth), whereas body sizes for adult unflanged males ranged between those of adult flanged males and adult females for several measurements (all P < 0.001). Thus, sexually mature male orangutans exhibit body sizes that range from the female end of the spectrum to the flanged male end of the spectrum. These results exemplify that the term "sexual dimorphism" fails to capture the full range of variation in adult orangutan body size. By including adult unflanged males in analyses of body size and other aspects of morphology, not as aberrations but as an expected part of orangutan variation, we may begin to shift the way that we think about features typically considered dichotomous according to biological sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra E Kralick
- Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Caitlin A O'Connell
- Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
| | - Meredith L Bastian
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC 20001, USA
| | - Morgan K Hoke
- Department of Anthropology & Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Babette S Zemel
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- , Department of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Theodore G Schurr
- Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Matthew W Tocheri
- Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
- Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia
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6
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Kinkopf KM, Agarwal SC, Giuffra V, Minozzi S, Campana S, Caramella D, Riccomi G. Contextualizing bilateral asymmetry and gender: A multivariate approach to femoral cross-sectional geometry at rural Medieval Pieve di Pava, Italy. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 180:173-195. [PMID: 36790747 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Our objective was to identify the relationship between biocultural factors of sex-gender and age and patterns of femoral cross-sectional geometry with historical evidence about labor and activity from an archeological skeletal sample excavated from the rural Medieval site Pieve di Pava. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study site, Pieve di Pava, was a rural parish cemetery in Tuscany with osteoarcheological remains from the 7th to 12th centuries. Cross-sectional geometric analysis of femora from 110 individuals dated to the 10th-12th centuries were used to examine trends in bone quantity, shape, and bending strength between age and sex groups, as well as in clusters identified through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA). RESULTS Overall, our study sample showed remarkable heterogeneity and our cluster analysis revealed a complex underlying structure, indicating that divisions of labor did not follow a strict gender binary in our sample. We found high levels of bilateral asymmetry in our sample in multiple cross-sectional areas for a significant proportion of the population. We found minimal differences between age groups or sex. DISCUSSION Our results suggest that males and females had varied experiences of labor and work during their lives that did not reflect the strict binary gender roles sometimes documented for medieval Europe. One important axis of difference is the direction and magnitude of bilateral asymmetry observed in our femur sample, which is associated with divergent trends in section moduli and bone area measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine M Kinkopf
- Department of Geography and Anthropology, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA
| | - Sabrina C Agarwal
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | | | - Simona Minozzi
- Paleopathology Division, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Stefano Campana
- Department of History and Cultural Heritage, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | | | - Giulia Riccomi
- Paleopathology Division, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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7
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Sarringhaus L, Lewton KL, Iqbal S, Carlson KJ. Ape femoral-humeral rigidities and arboreal locomotion. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2022; 179:624-639. [PMID: 36790629 PMCID: PMC9828227 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study investigates patterns of bone functional adaptations in extant apes through comparing hindlimb to forelimb bone rigidity ratios in groups with varying levels of arboreality. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using CT scans, bone rigidity (J) was calculated at three regions of interest (ROI) along femoral and humeral diaphyses in Homo, Pongo, Pan, and Gorilla with further comparisons made between species and subspecies divisions within Pan and Gorilla. RESULTS Consistent with previous work on extant hominoids, species exhibited differences in midshaft femoral to humeral (F/H) rigidity ratios. Results of the present study confirm that these midshaft differences extend to 35% and 65% diaphyseal ROIs. Modern humans, exhibiting larger ratios, and orangutans, exhibiting smaller ratios, bracketed the intermediate African apes in comparisons. Within some African apes, limb rigidity ratios varied significantly between taxonomic groups. Eastern gorillas exhibited the highest mean ratios and chimpanzees the lowest at all three ROIs. In posthoc comparisons, chimpanzees and bonobos did not differ in relative limb rigidity ratios at any of the three ROIs. However, western gorillas were more similar to bonobos than eastern gorillas at 50% and 35% ROIs, but not at the 65% ROI. CONCLUSION Species, and to a lesser extent subspecies, can be distinguished by F/H limb rigidity ratios according to broad positional behavior patterns at multiple regions of interest along the diaphyses. Similarity of bonobos and western gorillas is in line with behavioral data of bonobos being the most terrestrial of Pan species, and western gorillas the most arboreal of the Gorilla groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Sarringhaus
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Biology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Kristi L Lewton
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Safiyyah Iqbal
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Kristian J Carlson
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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8
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Nsekanabo JD, Leeds A, Eckardt W, Tuyisingize D, Nyiramana A, Lukas KE. Distinguishing mobility and immobility when establishing species-specific activity budgets: A case study with gorillas (Gorilla berengei berengei and Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Zoo Biol 2022; 41:503-511. [PMID: 35098583 DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Activity budgets characterize the distribution of behavior over a specified time period. In some cases, having comparable data from free-ranging populations can help inform the management of wildlife in zoos and sanctuaries. For example, although variations exist across subspecies, seasons, and study sites, diurnal activity budgets for free-ranging gorillas largely consist of feeding and resting. Unfortunately, most studies do not consistently differentiate between the type of activities gorillas exhibit while locomoting versus stationary. Therefore, it can be difficult to characterize optimal levels of aerobic activity that might enhance body condition or promote gorilla health in zoos and sanctuaries. In this study, we concurrently measured the mobility state and activity of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. From June to August 2015, behavioral data were collected using group scan sampling with 15-min intervals in two groups (N = 29 gorillas) monitored by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Overall, gorillas spent significantly more time immobile (85.2% of observations) than mobile (14.8%), revealing energy expenditure levels comparable to western lowland gorillas living in zoos. There was no difference in behavioral diversity when gorillas were mobile versus immobile but adult females exhibited substantially less behavioral diversity while immobile than other age-sex classes. There was more diversity in behaviors following the transition from immobile to mobile than vice versa, particularly for adult females. Future studies should concurrently measure mobility state and behavior to improve the precision of activity budget data and serve as a more useful tool for evaluating optimal activity levels for wildlife in human care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean D Nsekanabo
- Karisoke Research Center, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Musanze, Rwanda.,Department of Biology, University of Rwanda, Huye, Rwanda
| | - Austin Leeds
- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.,Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Winnie Eckardt
- Karisoke Research Center, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Musanze, Rwanda
| | | | | | - Kristen E Lukas
- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.,Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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Ruff CB, Junno JA, Burgess ML, Canington SL, Harper C, Mudakikwa A, McFarlin SC. Body proportions and environmental adaptation in gorillas. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2022; 177:501-529. [PMID: 36787793 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Limb length and trunk proportions are determined in a large, taxonomically and environmentally diverse sample of gorillas and related to variation in locomotion, climate, altitude, and diet. MATERIALS AND METHODS The sample includes 299 gorilla skeletons, 115 of which are infants and juveniles, distributed between western lowland (G. gorilla gorilla), low and high elevation grauer (G. beringei graueri), and Virunga mountain gorillas (G. b. beringei). Limb bone and vertebral column lengths scaled to body mass are compared between subgroups by age group. RESULTS All G. beringei have relatively short 3rd metapodials and manual proximal phalanges compared to G. gorilla, and this difference is apparent in infancy. All G. beringei also have shortened total limb lengths relative to either body mass or vertebral column length, although patterns of variation in individual skeletal elements are more complex, and infants do not display the same patterns as adults. Mountain gorillas have relatively long clavicles, present in infancy, and a relatively long thoracic (but not lumbosacral) vertebral column. DISCUSSION A variety of environmental factors likely contributed to observed patterns of morphological variation among extant gorillas. We interpret the short hand and foot bones of all G. beringei as genetic adaptations to greater terrestriality in the last common ancestor of G. beringei; variation in other limb lengths to climatic adaptation, both genetic and developmental; and the larger thorax of G. b. beringei to adaptation to reduced oxygen pressure at high altitudes, again as a product of both genetic differences and environmental influences during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | | | - M Loring Burgess
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Stephanie L Canington
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Christine Harper
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, New Jersey, USA
| | - Antoine Mudakikwa
- Rwanda Development Board, Department of Tourism and Conservation, Kigali, Rwanda
| | - Shannon C McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.,Human Origins Program, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
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10
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Deckers K, Tsegai ZJ, Skinner MM, Zeininger A, Kivell TL. Ontogenetic changes to metacarpal trabecular bone structure in mountain and western lowland gorillas. J Anat 2022; 241:82-100. [PMID: 35122239 PMCID: PMC9178373 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The trabecular bone morphology of adult extant primates has been shown to reflect mechanical loading related to locomotion. However, ontogenetic studies of humans and other mammals suggest an adaptive lag between trabecular bone response and current mechanical loading patterns that could result in adult trabecular bone morphology reflecting juvenile behaviours. This study investigates ontogenetic changes in the trabecular bone structure of the third metacarpal of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei; n = 26) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla; n = 26) and its relationship to expected changes in locomotor loading patterns. Results show that trabecular bone reflects predicted mechanical loading throughout ontogeny. Bone volume fraction, trabecular thickness and trabecular number are low at birth and increase with age, although degree of anisotropy remains relatively stable throughout ontogeny. A high concentration of bone volume fraction can be observed in the distopalmar region of the third metacarpal epiphysis in early ontogeny, consistent with the high frequency of climbing, suspensory and other grasping behaviours in young gorillas. High trabecular bone concentration increases dorsally in the epiphysis during the juvenile period as terrestrial knuckle-walking becomes the primary form of locomotion. However, fusion of the epiphysis does not take place until 10-11 years of age, and overall trabecular structure does not fully reflect the adult pattern until 12 years of age, indicating a lag between adult-like behaviours and adult-like trabecular morphology. We found minimal differences in trabecular ontogeny between mountain and western lowland gorillas, despite presumed variation in the frequencies of arboreal locomotor behaviours. Altogether, ontogenetic changes in Gorilla metacarpal trabecular structure reflect overall genus-level changes in locomotor behaviours throughout development, but with some ontogenetic lag that should be considered when drawing functional conclusions from bone structure in extant or fossil adolescent specimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Deckers
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Zewdi J Tsegai
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angel Zeininger
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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11
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Stamos PA, Berthaume MA. The effects of femoral metaphyseal morphology on growth plate biomechanics in juvenile chimpanzees and humans. Interface Focus 2021; 11:20200092. [PMID: 34938436 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2020.0092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The distal femoral metaphyseal surface presents dramatically different morphologies in juvenile extant hominoids-humans have relatively flat metaphyseal surfaces when compared with the more complex metaphyseal surfaces of apes. It has long been speculated that these different morphologies reflect different biomechanical demands placed on the growth plate during locomotor behaviour, with the more complex metaphyseal surfaces of apes acting to protect the growth plate during flexed-knee behaviours like squatting and climbing. To test this hypothesis, we built subject-specific parametric finite-element models from the surface scans of the femora of five Pan and six Homo juveniles. We then simulated the loading conditions of either a straight-leg or flexed-knee gait and measured the resulting stresses at the growth plate. When subjected to the simulated flexed-knee loading conditions, both the maximum and mean von Mises stresses were significantly lower in the Pan models than in the Homo models. Further, during these loading conditions, von Mises stresses were strongly negatively correlated with ariaDNE, a measure of complexity of the metaphyseal surface. These results indicate that metaphyseal surface morphology has a robust effect on growth plate mechanics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter A Stamos
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, 1027 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Michael A Berthaume
- Division of Mechanical Engineering and Design, London South Bank University, London SE1 0AA, UK
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12
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Biomechanical Evaluation on the Bilateral Asymmetry of Complete Humeral Diaphysis in Chinese Archaeological Populations. Symmetry (Basel) 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/sym13101843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Diaphyseal cross-sectional geometry (CSG) is an effective indicator of humeral bilateral asymmetry. However, previous studies primarily focused on CSG properties from limited locations to represent the overall bilateral biomechanical performance of humeral diaphysis. In this study, the complete humeral diaphyses of 40 pairs of humeri from three Chinese archaeological populations were scanned using high-resolution micro-CT, and their biomechanical asymmetries were quantified by morphometric mapping. Patterns of humeral asymmetry were compared between sub-groups defined by sex and population, and the representativeness of torsional rigidity asymmetry at the 35% and 50% cross-sections (J35 and J50 asymmetry) was testified. Inter-group differences were observed on the mean morphometric maps, but were not statistically significant. Analogous distribution patterns of highly asymmetrical regions, which correspond to major muscle attachments, were observed across nearly all the sexes and populations. The diaphyseal regions with high variability of bilateral asymmetry tended to present a low asymmetrical level. The J35 and J50 asymmetry were related to the overall humeral asymmetry, but the correlation was moderate and they could not reflect localized asymmetrical features across the diaphysis. This study suggests that the overall asymmetry pattern of humeral diaphysis is more complicated than previously revealed by individual sections.
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Zelazny KG, Sylvester AD, Ruff CB. Bilateral asymmetry and developmental plasticity of the humerus in modern humans. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 174:418-433. [PMID: 33460465 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Revised: 11/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study investigates bilateral asymmetry in the humerus of modern human populations with differing activity patterns to assess the relative plasticity of different bone regions in response to environmental influences, particularly the biomechanical demands of handedness. METHODS External breadths, cross-sectional properties, and centroid sizes were used to quantify directional and absolute asymmetry of humeral diaphyseal, distal periarticular, and articular regions in six populations with differing subsistence strategies (total n = 244). Geometric section properties were measured using computed tomography at six locations along the distal humerus, while centroid sizes of the distal articular and periarticular regions, as well as eight segments of the diaphysis, were extracted from external landmark data. Bilateral asymmetries were compared between populations and sexes. Each property was also tested for correlation with bilateral asymmetry at 40% of bone length, which has been shown to correlate with handedness. RESULTS Asymmetry is highest in the diaphysis, but significant through all distal bone regions. Asymmetry increases in the region of the deltoid tuberosity, and progressively declines distally through the shaft and distal periarticular region. Articular asymmetry is higher than periarticular asymmetry, approaching levels seen just proximal to the olecranon fossa, and is weakly but significantly correlated with diaphyseal asymmetry. Hunter-gatherers from Indian Knoll have significantly higher levels of asymmetry than other groups and are more sexually dimorphic, particularly in cross-sectional properties of the diaphysis. CONCLUSIONS Humeral dimensions throughout the diaphysis, including regions currently used in taxonomic assignments of fossil hominins, likely respond to in vivo use, including population and sex-specific behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaya G Zelazny
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Adam D Sylvester
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Christopher B Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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14
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Nadell JA, Elton S, Kovarovic K. Ontogenetic and morphological variation in primate long bones reflects signals of size and behavior. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 174:327-351. [PMID: 33368154 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 11/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Many primates change their locomotor behavior as they mature from infancy to adulthood. Here we investigate how long bone cross-sectional geometry in Pan, Gorilla, Pongo, Hylobatidae, and Macaca varies in shape and form over ontogeny, including whether specific diaphyseal cross sections exhibit signals of periosteal adaptation or canalization. MATERIALS AND METHODS Diaphyseal cross sections were analyzed in an ontogenetic series across infant, juvenile, and adult subgroups. Three-dimensional laser-scanned long bone models were sectioned at midshaft (50% of biomechanical length) and distally (20%) along the humerus and femur. Traditional axis ratios acted as indices of cross-sectional circularity, while geometric morphometric techniques were used to study cross-sectional allometry and ontogenetic trajectory. RESULTS The humeral midshaft is a strong indicator of posture and locomotor profile in the sample across development, while the mid-femur appears more reflective of shifts in size. By comparison, the distal diaphyses of both limb elements are more ontogenetically constrained, where periosteal shape is largely static across development relative to size, irrespective of a given taxon's behavior or ecology. DISCUSSION Primate limb shape is not only highly variable between taxa over development, but at discrete humeral and femoral diaphyseal locations. Overall, periosteal shape of the humeral and femoral midshaft cross sections closely reflects ontogenetic transitions in behavior and size, respectively, while distal shape in both bones appears more genetically constrained across intraspecific development, regardless of posture or size. These findings support prior research on tradeoffs between function and safety along the limbs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason A Nadell
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Elton
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Kris Kovarovic
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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15
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Ferguson AW. On the role of (and threat to) natural history museums in mammal conservation: an African small mammal perspective. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.20028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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16
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Ruff CB, Junno JA, Eckardt W, Gilardi K, Mudakikwa A, McFarlin SC. Skeletal ageing in Virunga mountain gorillas. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190606. [PMID: 32951549 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Bone loss and heightened fracture risk are common conditions associated with ageing in modern human populations and have been attributed to both hormonal and other metabolic and behavioural changes. To what extent these age-related trends are specific to modern humans or generally characteristic of natural populations of other taxa is not clear. In this study, we use computed tomography to examine age changes in long bone and vertebral structural properties of 34 wild-adult Virunga mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) whose skeletons were recovered from natural accumulations. Chronological ages were known or estimated from sample-specific dental wear formulae and ranged between 11 and 43 years. Gorillas show some of the same characteristics of skeletal ageing as modern humans, including endosteal and some periosteal expansion. However, unlike in humans, there is no decline in cortical or trabecular bone density, or in combined geometric-density measures of strength, nor do females show accelerated bone loss later in life. We attribute these differences to the lack of an extended post-reproductive period in gorillas, which provides protection against bone resorption. Increases in age-related fractures (osteoporosis) in modern humans may be a combined effect of an extended lifespan and lower activity levels earlier in life. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution of the primate ageing process'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | | | | | - Kirsten Gilardi
- Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Antoine Mudakikwa
- Department of Tourism and Conservation, Rwanda Development Board, Kigali, Rwanda
| | - Shannon C McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
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17
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McGuire RS, Ourfalian R, Ezell K, Lee AH. Development of limb bone laminarity in the homing pigeon ( Columba livia). PeerJ 2020; 8:e9878. [PMID: 33194361 PMCID: PMC7485507 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 08/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Birds show adaptations in limb bone shape that are associated with resisting locomotor loads. Whether comparable adaptations occur in the microstructure of avian cortical bone is less clear. One proposed microstructural adaptation is laminar bone in which the proportion of circumferentially-oriented vascular canals (i.e., laminarity) is large. Previous work on adult birds shows elevated laminarity in specific limb elements of some taxa, presumably to resist torsion-induced shear strain during locomotion. However, more recent analyses using improved measurements in adult birds and bats reveal lower laminarity than expected in bones associated with torsional loading. Even so, there may still be support for the resistance hypothesis if laminarity increases with growth and locomotor maturation. Methods Here, we tested that hypothesis using a growth series of 17 homing pigeons (15–563 g). Torsional rigidity and laminarity of limb bones were measured from histological sections sampled from midshaft. Ontogenetic trends in laminarity were assessed using principal component analysis to reduce dimensionality followed by beta regression with a logit link function. Results We found that torsional rigidity of limb bones increases disproportionately with growth, consistent with rapid structural compensation associated with locomotor maturation. However, laminarity decreases with maturity, weakening the hypothesis that high laminarity is a flight adaptation at least in the pigeon. Instead, the histological results suggest that low laminarity, specifically the relative proportion of longitudinal canals aligned with peak principal strains, may better reflect the loading history of a bone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rylee S McGuire
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Raffi Ourfalian
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA.,Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kelly Ezell
- Department of Anatomy, College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Andrew H Lee
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA.,Department of Anatomy, College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA.,College of Veterinary Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
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18
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Patel BA, Orr CM, Jashashvili T. Strength properties of extant hominoid hallucal and pollical metapodials. J Hum Evol 2020; 143:102774. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2019] [Revised: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/05/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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19
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Stamos PA, Weaver TD. Ontogeny of the distal femoral metaphyseal surface and its relationship to locomotor behavior in hominoids. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 172:462-474. [PMID: 32124979 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Revised: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Distal femoral metaphyseal surface morphology is highly variable in extant mammals. This variation has previously been linked to differences in locomotor behavior. We perform the first systematic survey and description of the development of this morphology in extant hominoids. MATERIALS AND METHODS We collected 3D surface laser scans of the femora of 179 human and great ape individuals throughout all subadult stages of development. We qualitatively and quantitatively describe metaphyseal surface morphology. RESULTS We find that the metaphysis is topographically simple in all hominoids during the fetal and infant periods relative to later developmental periods, and in apes it develops significant complexity throughout development. Humans, by contrast, retain relatively flat metaphyseal surfaces throughout ontogeny. DISCUSSION Major shifts in morphology appear to coincide with major shifts in locomotor behavior, suggesting that metaphyseal morphology is developmentally plastic and highly dependent on the biomechanical loadings at the knee joint. This is consistent with a large body of biomedical research, which demonstrates the primacy of mechanical forces in determining growth plate ossification patterns. Additionally, specific metaphyseal morphology appears highly correlated with specific locomotor modes, suggesting that metaphyseal surface morphology will be useful for reconstructing the locomotor behavior of fossil primate taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter A Stamos
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Timothy D Weaver
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
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20
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Rolian C. Endochondral ossification and the evolution of limb proportions. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2020; 9:e373. [PMID: 31997553 DOI: 10.1002/wdev.373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Mammals have remarkably diverse limb proportions hypothesized to have evolved adaptively in the context of locomotion and other behaviors. Mechanistically, evolutionary diversity in limb proportions is the result of differential limb bone growth. Longitudinal limb bone growth is driven by the process of endochondral ossification, under the control of the growth plates. In growth plates, chondrocytes undergo a tightly orchestrated life cycle of proliferation, matrix production, hypertrophy, and cell death/transdifferentiation. This life cycle is highly conserved, both among the long bones of an individual, and among homologous bones of distantly related taxa, leading to a finite number of complementary cell mechanisms that can generate heritable phenotype variation in limb bone size and shape. The most important of these mechanisms are chondrocyte population size in chondrogenesis and in individual growth plates, proliferation rates, and hypertrophic chondrocyte size. Comparative evidence in mammals and birds suggests the existence of developmental biases that favor evolutionary changes in some of these cellular mechanisms over others in driving limb allometry. Specifically, chondrocyte population size may evolve more readily in response to selection than hypertrophic chondrocyte size, and extreme hypertrophy may be a rarer evolutionary phenomenon associated with highly specialized modes of locomotion in mammals (e.g., powered flight, ricochetal bipedal hopping). Physical and physiological constraints at multiple levels of biological organization may also have influenced the cell developmental mechanisms that have evolved to produce the highly diverse limb proportions in extant mammals. This article is categorized under: Establishment of Spatial and Temporal Patterns > Regulation of Size, Proportion, and Timing Comparative Development and Evolution > Regulation of Organ Diversity Comparative Development and Evolution > Organ System Comparisons Between Species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Campbell Rolian
- Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
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21
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Ragni AJ. Trabecular architecture of the capitate and third metacarpal through ontogeny in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). J Hum Evol 2019; 138:102702. [PMID: 31805487 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) both knuckle-walk in adulthood but are known to develop their locomotor strategies differently. Using dentally defined age-groups of both Pan and Gorilla and behavioral data from the literature, this study presents an internal trabecular bone approach to better understand the morphological ontogeny of knuckle-walking in these taxa. Capitate and third metacarpal bones were scanned by μCT at 23-43 μm resolution with scaled volumes of interest placed centrally within the head of the capitate and base of the third metacarpal. Trabecular measures related to activity level (size-adjusted bone volume/total volume, trabecular number, and bone surface area/bone volume) met expectations of decreasing through ontogeny in both taxa. Degree of anisotropy did not show statistical support for predicted species differences, but this may be due to the sample size as observed changes through ontogeny reflect expected trends in the capitate. Analyses of principal trabecular orientation corroborated known behavioral differences related to variation of hand use in these taxa, but only Pan showed directional patterning associated with suggested wrist posture. Assessment of allometry showed that the trabecular bone of larger animals is characterized by fewer and thinner trabeculae relative to bone size. In combination, these findings confirm the efficacy of trabecular bone in reflecting locomotor ontogeny differences between closely related taxa. These techniques show promise for use within the hominin fossil record, particularly for taxa hypothesized to be arboreal in some capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna J Ragni
- Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA; Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA.
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22
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Fatica LM, Almécija S, McFarlin SC, Hammond AS. Pelvic shape variation among gorilla subspecies: Phylogenetic and ecological signals. J Hum Evol 2019; 137:102684. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2019] [Revised: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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23
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Nalley TK, Scott JE, Ward CV, Alemseged Z. Comparative morphology and ontogeny of the thoracolumbar transition in great apes, humans, and fossil hominins. J Hum Evol 2019; 134:102632. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2018] [Revised: 06/19/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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24
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Ruff CB, Harper CM, Goldstein DM, Daegling DJ, McGraw WS. Long bone structural proportions and locomotor behavior in Cercopithecidae. J Hum Evol 2019; 132:47-60. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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25
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Marchi D, Harper C, Chirchir H, Ruff C. Relative fibular strength and locomotor behavior in KNM-WT 15000 and OH 35. J Hum Evol 2019; 131:48-60. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Revised: 02/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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26
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Cosman MN, Britz HM, Rolian C. Selection for longer limbs in mice increases bone stiffness and brittleness, but does not alter bending strength. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:jeb.203125. [PMID: 31043455 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.203125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The ability of a bone to withstand loads depends on its structural and material properties. These tend to differ among species with different modes of locomotion, reflecting their unique loading patterns. The evolution of derived limb morphologies, such as the long limbs associated with jumping, may compromise overall bone strength. We evaluated bone mechanical properties in the Longshanks mouse, which was selectively bred for increased tibia length relative to body mass. We combined analyses of 3D shape and cross-sectional geometry of the tibia, with mechanical testing and bone composition assays, to compare bone strength, elastic properties and mineral composition in Longshanks mice and randomly bred controls. Our data show that, despite being more slender, cortical geometry and predicted bending strength of the Longshanks tibia were similar to controls. In whole bone bending tests, measures of bone bending strength were similar across groups; however, Longshanks tibiae were significantly more rigid, more brittle, and required less than half the energy to fracture. Tissue-level elastic properties were also altered in Longshanks mice, but the bones did not differ from the control in water content, ash content or density. These results indicate that while Longshanks bones are as strong as control tibiae, selection for increased tibia length has altered its elastic properties, possibly through changes in organic bony matrix composition. We conclude that selection for certain limb morphologies, and/or selection for rapid skeletal growth, can lead to tissue-level changes that can increase the risk of skeletal fracture, which in turn may favor the correlated evolution of compensatory mechanisms to mitigate increased fracture risk, such as delayed skeletal maturity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miranda N Cosman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, 101 West Hall 1085 S. University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | - Hayley M Britz
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Cumming School or Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada.,McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada
| | - Campbell Rolian
- McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada .,Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada
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27
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Holt B, Whittey E. The impact of terrain on lower limb bone structure. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 168:729-743. [PMID: 30771265 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Revised: 12/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Lower limb diaphyseal geometry is often used to evaluate mobility in past populations. Diaphyseal dimensions such as high shape (IX /IY ) indices generally thought to reflect high mobility may also result from walking over rough terrain. This study investigates the possible effects of terrain on lower limb diaphyseal cross-sectional geometric dimensions. MATERIALS The sample (N = 3,195) comprises adult skeletons from Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia, spanning from around 30,000 BP to mid-twentieth century. METHODS Femoral and tibial shape and bending/torsional strength dimensions were gathered either as part of a previous project or were generously provided by researchers. Local terrain for each site was quantified with ArcGIS mapping software using geographic coordinates and USGS elevation data, and characterized as flat, hilly, or mountainous. RESULTS Analysis of variance shows significant differences (p < .05) in midshaft femoral and tibial shape ratio and relative bending/torsional strength among the three terrain categories, with more AP oriented diaphyseal shapes and greater relative strength in hilly and mountainous groups, even after correcting for the effect of subsistence. As expected, the impact of terrain is much more marked for hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists than for more mechanized recent populations. Interestingly, the effect of terrain is confounded in higher latitude individuals that exhibit increased ML bending strength, probably reflecting larger body breadth. DISCUSSION This study underscores the mechanical significance of traveling over rough terrain and highlights the complex interactions of mobility, terrain, and body shape that contribute to shaping lower limb bone diaphyseal structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Holt
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
| | - Erin Whittey
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
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28
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Boulinguez‐Ambroise G, Zablocki‐Thomas P, Aujard F, Herrel A, Pouydebat E. Ontogeny of food grasping in mouse lemurs: behavior, morphology and performance. J Zool (1987) 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - F. Aujard
- UMR 7179‐ CNRS, National Museum of Natural History Paris France
| | - A. Herrel
- UMR 7179‐ CNRS, National Museum of Natural History Paris France
| | - E. Pouydebat
- UMR 7179‐ CNRS, National Museum of Natural History Paris France
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29
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Young JW, Jankord K, Saunders MM, Smith TD. Getting into Shape: Limb Bone Strength in Perinatal Lemur catta and Propithecus coquereli. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2018; 303:250-264. [PMID: 30548126 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2017] [Revised: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Functional studies of skeletal anatomy are predicated on the fundamental assumption that form will follow function. For instance, previous studies have shown that the femora of specialized leaping primates are more robust than those of more generalized primate quadrupeds. Are such differences solely a plastic response to differential loading patterns during postnatal life, or might they also reflect more canalized developmental mechanisms present at birth? Here, we show that perinatal Lemur catta, an arboreal/terrestrial quadruped, have less robust femora than perinatal Propithecus coquereli, a closely related species specialized for vertical clinging and leaping (a highly unusual locomotor mode in which the hindlimbs are used to launch the animal between vertical tree trunks). These results suggest that functional differences in long bone cross-sectional dimensions are manifest at birth, belying simple interpretations of adult postcranial form as a direct record of loading patterns during postnatal life. Despite these significant differences in bone robusticity, we find that hindlimb bone mineralization, material properties, and measures of whole-bone strength generally overlap in perinatal L. catta and P. coquereli, indicating little differentiation in postcranial maturity at birth despite known differences in the pace of craniodental development between the species. In a broader perspective, our results likely reflect evolution acting during prenatal ontogeny. Even though primates are notable for relatively prolonged gestation and postnatal parental care, neonates are not buffered from selection, perhaps especially in the unpredictable and volatile environment of Madagascar. Anat Rec, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Anat Rec, 303:250-264, 2020. © 2018 American Association for Anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse W Young
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Rootstown, Ohio, 44272
| | - Kathryn Jankord
- School of Physical Therapy, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, 16057
| | - Marnie M Saunders
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, 44325
| | - Timothy D Smith
- School of Physical Therapy, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, 16057.,Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213
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30
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Galbany J, Muhire T, Vecellio V, Mudakikwa A, Nyiramana A, Cranfield MR, Stoinski TS, McFarlin SC. Incisor tooth wear and age determination in mountain gorillas from Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 167:930-935. [PMID: 30368801 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2018] [Revised: 09/05/2018] [Accepted: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Ecological factors, but also tooth-to-tooth contact over time, have a dramatic effect on tooth wear in primates. The aim of this study is to test whether incisor tooth wear changes predictably with age and can thus be used as an age estimation method in a wild population of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) from Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. MATERIALS AND METHODS In mountain gorillas of confidently known chronological age (N = 24), we measured the crown height of all permanent maxillary and mandibular incisors (I1 , I1 , I2 , I2 ) as a proxy for incisal macrowear. Linear and quadratic regressions for each incisor were used to test whether age can be predicted by crown height. Using these models, we then predicted age at death of two individual mountain gorillas of probable identifications, based on their incisor crown height. RESULTS Age decreased significantly with incisor height for all teeth, but the upper first incisors (I1 ) provided the best results, with the lowest Akaike's Information Criterion corrected for small sample size (AICc) and lowest Standard Error of the Estimate (SEE). When the best age equations for each sex were applied to gorillas with probable identifications, the predicted ages differed 1.58 and 3.33 years from the probable ages of these individuals. CONCLUSIONS Our findings corroborate that incisor crown height, a proxy for incisal wear, varies predictably with age. This relationship can be used to estimate age at death of unknown gorillas in the skeletal collection, and in some cases, to corroborate the identity of individual gorillas recovered from the forest postmortem at an advanced state of decomposition. Such identifications help fill gaps in the demographic database and support research that requires individual-level data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Galbany
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia.,Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Thadée Muhire
- Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Atlanta, Georgia
| | | | - Antoine Mudakikwa
- Department of Tourism and Conservation, Rwanda Development Board, Kigali, Rwanda
| | | | - Michael R Cranfield
- Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
| | | | - Shannon C McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
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31
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Brimacombe CS, Kuykendall KL, Nystrom P. Epiphyseal fusion and dental development in Pan paniscus with comparisons with Pan troglodytes. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 167:903-913. [PMID: 30318603 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Revised: 08/20/2018] [Accepted: 08/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Compared with frequent studies of skeletal development in chimpanzees, relatively little is known about bonobo skeletal development. This study seeks to explore the relationship between skeletal and dental development in both species of Pan. New data are presented for fusion sites not previously observed in bonobos. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a sample of 34 Pan paniscus and 168 Pan troglodytes subadults, state of fusion was recorded for 30 epiphyseal fusion sites using a three-stage system of unfused, midfusion, and complete fusion based on Wintheiser, Clauser, and Tappen. Stage of dental development for permanent mandibular dentition was assessed using the Demrijian, Goldstein, and Tanner method. These data allowed for comparisons of both species of Pan and the two subspecies of P. troglodytes. RESULTS The sequence of fusion events was generally consistent between the two species, but some exceptions may exist for the knee and ankle. The number of fusion events that occurred after complete dental mineralization was similar in both species. No statistically significant differences were found in the fusion timing for the subspecies of P. troglodytes. DISCUSSION Bolter and Zihlman suggested that fusion at the acetabulum occurs earlier in Pan paniscus, while fusion of epiphyses at the knee are delayed, compared with P. troglodytes. Our data do not indicate earlier fusion of the acetabulum, but fusion events at the knee may complete later relative to dental mineralization in Pan pansicus. Compared with Homo sapiens, both P. troglodytes and Pan paniscus demonstrate later completion of epiphyseal fusion relative to dental mineralization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conrad S Brimacombe
- University of Sheffield, Department of Archaeology, Minalloy House, Sheffield, United Kingdom.,University of Sheffield Bioinformatics Hub, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Kevin L Kuykendall
- University of Sheffield, Department of Archaeology, Minalloy House, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Pia Nystrom
- University of Sheffield, Department of Archaeology, Minalloy House, Sheffield, United Kingdom
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32
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L Canington
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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33
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Cowgill LW, Johnston RA. Biomechanical implications of the onset of walking. J Hum Evol 2018; 122:133-145. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2017] [Revised: 05/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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34
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Tsegai ZJ, Skinner MM, Pahr DH, Hublin JJ, Kivell TL. Ontogeny and variability of trabecular bone in the chimpanzee humerus, femur and tibia. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 167:713-736. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 06/22/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zewdi J. Tsegai
- Department of Human Evolution; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Leipzig Germany
| | - Matthew M. Skinner
- Skeletal Biology Research Center; School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent; Canterbury United Kingdom
- Department of Human Evolution; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Leipzig Germany
| | - Dieter H. Pahr
- Institute for Lightweight Design and Structural Biomechanics; Vienna University of Technology; Wien Austria
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Leipzig Germany
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Center; School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent; Canterbury United Kingdom
- Department of Human Evolution; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Leipzig Germany
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35
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Canington SL, Sylvester AD, Burgess ML, Junno J, Ruff CB. Long bone diaphyseal shape follows different ontogenetic trajectories in captive and wild gorillas. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 167:366-376. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Revised: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L. Canington
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland
| | - Adam D. Sylvester
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland
| | - M. Loring Burgess
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland
| | | | - Christopher B. Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland
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36
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Tsegai ZJ, Skinner MM, Pahr DH, Hublin J, Kivell TL. Systemic patterns of trabecular bone across the human and chimpanzee skeleton. J Anat 2018; 232:641-656. [PMID: 29344941 PMCID: PMC5835784 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Aspects of trabecular bone architecture are thought to reflect regional loading of the skeleton, and thus differ between primate taxa with different locomotor and postural modes. However, there are several systemic factors that affect bone structure that could contribute to, or be the primary factor determining, interspecific differences in bone structure. These systemic factors include differences in genetic regulation, sensitivity to loading, hormone levels, diet, and activity levels. Improved understanding of inter-/intraspecific variability, and variability across the skeleton of an individual, is required to interpret properly potential functional signals present within trabecular structure. Using a whole-region method of analysis, we investigated trabecular structure throughout the skeleton of humans and chimpanzees. Trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV), degree of anisotropy (DA) and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) were quantified from high resolution micro-computed tomographic scans of the humeral and femoral head, third metacarpal and third metatarsal head, distal tibia, talus and first thoracic vertebra. We found that BV/TV is, in most anatomical sites, significantly higher in chimpanzees than in humans, suggesting a systemic difference in trabecular structure unrelated to local loading regime. Differences in BV/TV between the forelimb and hindlimb did not clearly reflect differences in locomotor loading in the study taxa. There were no clear systemic differences between the taxa in DA and, as such, this parameter might reflect function and relate to differences in joint loading. This systemic approach reveals both the pattern of variability across the skeleton and between taxa, and helps identify those features of trabecular structure that may relate to joint function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zewdi J. Tsegai
- Department of Human EvolutionMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
| | - Matthew M. Skinner
- Department of Human EvolutionMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
- Skeletal Biology Research CentreSchool of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
| | - Dieter H. Pahr
- Institute of Lightweight Design and Structural BiomechanicsVienna University of TechnologyViennaAustria
| | - Jean‐Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human EvolutionMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- Department of Human EvolutionMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
- Skeletal Biology Research CentreSchool of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
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37
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Ruff CB. Functional morphology in the pages of the AJPA. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165:688-704. [PMID: 29574828 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2017] [Revised: 12/20/2017] [Accepted: 12/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
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38
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Voeten DFAE, Cubo J, de Margerie E, Röper M, Beyrand V, Bureš S, Tafforeau P, Sanchez S. Wing bone geometry reveals active flight in Archaeopteryx. Nat Commun 2018. [PMID: 29535376 PMCID: PMC5849612 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03296-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Archaeopteryx is an iconic fossil taxon with feathered wings from the Late Jurassic of Germany that occupies a crucial position for understanding the early evolution of avian flight. After over 150 years of study, its mosaic anatomy unifying characters of both non-flying dinosaurs and flying birds has remained challenging to interpret in a locomotory context. Here, we compare new data from three Archaeopteryx specimens obtained through phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography to a representative sample of archosaurs employing a diverse array of locomotory strategies. Our analyses reveal that the architecture of Archaeopteryx's wing bones consistently exhibits a combination of cross-sectional geometric properties uniquely shared with volant birds, particularly those occasionally utilising short-distance flapping. We therefore interpret that Archaeopteryx actively employed wing flapping to take to the air through a more anterodorsally posteroventrally oriented flight stroke than used by modern birds. This unexpected outcome implies that avian powered flight must have originated before the latest Jurassic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis F A E Voeten
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France. .,Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
| | - Jorge Cubo
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS-INSU, Institut des Sciences de la Terre Paris, ISTeP UMR 7193, F-75005, Paris, France
| | - Emmanuel de Margerie
- CNRS, Laboratoire d'éthologie animale et humaine, Université de Rennes 1, Université de Caen Normandie, 263 Avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042, Rennes, France
| | - Martin Röper
- Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum, Bahnhofstrasse 8, 91807, Solnhofen, Germany.,Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, D-80333, München, Germany
| | - Vincent Beyrand
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France.,Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Stanislav Bureš
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France
| | - Sophie Sanchez
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS-40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France.,Science for Life Laboratory and Uppsala University, Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
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39
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Ruff CB, Burgess ML, Junno J, Mudakikwa A, Zollikofer CPE, Ponce de León MS, McFarlin SC. Phylogenetic and environmental effects on limb bone structure in gorillas. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 166:353-372. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2017] [Revised: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B. Ruff
- Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineCenter for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, 1830 E. Monument StBaltimore Maryland 21205
| | - M. Loring Burgess
- Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineCenter for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, 1830 E. Monument StBaltimore Maryland 21205
| | | | - Antoine Mudakikwa
- Department of Tourism and ConservationRwanda Development BoardKigali Rwanda
| | | | | | - Shannon C. McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human PaleobiologyThe George Washington UniversityWashington DC
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40
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Burgess ML, McFarlin SC, Mudakikwa A, Cranfield MR, Ruff CB. Body mass estimation in hominoids: Age and locomotor effects. J Hum Evol 2018; 115:36-46. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2016] [Revised: 07/05/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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41
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Young JW, Shapiro LJ. Developments in development: What have we learned from primate locomotor ontogeny? AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165 Suppl 65:37-71. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jesse W. Young
- Department of Anatomy and NeurobiologyNortheast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED)Rootstown Ohio, 44272
| | - Liza J. Shapiro
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of TexasAustin Texas, 78712
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42
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Ruff CB, Burgess ML, Squyres N, Junno JA, Trinkaus E. Lower limb articular scaling and body mass estimation in Pliocene and Pleistocene hominins. J Hum Evol 2018; 115:85-111. [PMID: 29331230 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 10/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Previous attempts to estimate body mass in pre-Holocene hominins have relied on prediction equations derived from relatively limited extant samples. Here we derive new equations to predict body mass from femoral head breadth and proximal tibial plateau breadth based on a large and diverse sample of modern humans (avoiding the problems associated with using diaphyseal dimensions and/or cadaveric reference samples). In addition, an adjustment for the relatively small femoral heads of non-Homo taxa is developed based on observed differences in hip to knee joint scaling. Body mass is then estimated for 214 terminal Miocene through Pleistocene hominin specimens. Mean body masses for non-Homo taxa range between 39 and 49 kg (39-45 kg if sex-specific means are averaged), with no consistent temporal trend (6-1.85 Ma). Mean body mass increases in early Homo (2.04-1.77 Ma) to 55-59 kg, and then again dramatically in Homo erectus and later archaic middle Pleistocene Homo, to about 70 kg. The same average body mass is maintained in late Pleistocene archaic Homo and early anatomically modern humans through the early/middle Upper Paleolithic (0.024 Ma), only declining in the late Upper Paleolithic, with regional variation. Sexual dimorphism in body mass is greatest in Australopithecus afarensis (log[male/female] = 1.54), declines in Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus (log ratio 1.36), and then again in early Homo and middle and late Pleistocene archaic Homo (log ratio 1.20-1.27), although it remains somewhat elevated above that of living and middle/late Pleistocene anatomically modern humans (log ratio about 1.15).
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 E. Monument St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
| | - M Loring Burgess
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 E. Monument St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Nicole Squyres
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 E. Monument St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Juho-Antti Junno
- Department of Archeology, University of Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland
| | - Erik Trinkaus
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
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43
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Brimacombe CS. The enigmatic relationship between epiphyseal fusion and bone development in primates. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:325-335. [PMID: 29265660 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Epiphyseal fusion in primates is a process that occurs in a regular sequence spanning a period of years and thus provides biological anthropologists with a useful marker of maturity that can be used to assess age and stage of development. Despite the many studies that have catalogued fusion timing and sequence pattern, comparatively little research has been devoted to understanding why these sequences exist in the first place. Answering this question is not necessarily intuitive; indeed, given that neither taxonomic affinities nor recent adaptations have been clearly defined, it is a challenge to explain this process in evolutionary terms. In all mammals, there is a tendency for the fusion of epiphyses at joints to occur close in sequence, and this has been proposed to relate to locomotor adaptations. Further consideration of the evidence suggests that linking locomotor behavior to sequence data alone is difficult to prove and may require a different type of evidence. Epiphyseal fusion should be considered in the context of other parameters that affect the developing skeleton, including how joint morphology relates to growth in length, as well as other possible morphological constraints. In recent years, developmental biology has been providing a better understanding of the molecular regulators of epiphyseal fusion. At some point in the near future, we may be able to link our understanding of the genetics of fusion timing to the possible selective mechanisms that are responsible for these sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conrad Stephen Brimacombe
- Human Evolutionary Studies Program and Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
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44
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Macintosh AA, Pinhasi R, Stock JT. Prehistoric women's manual labor exceeded that of athletes through the first 5500 years of farming in Central Europe. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2017; 3:eaao3893. [PMID: 29209662 PMCID: PMC5710185 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao3893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Accepted: 11/01/2017] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
The intensification of agriculture is often associated with declining mobility and bone strength through time, although women often exhibit less pronounced trends than men. For example, previous studies of prehistoric Central European agriculturalists (~5300 calibrated years BC to 850 AD) demonstrated a significant reduction in tibial rigidity among men, whereas women were characterized by low tibial rigidity, little temporal change, and high variability. Because of the potential for sex-specific skeletal responses to mechanical loading and a lack of modern comparative data, women's activity in prehistory remains difficult to interpret. This study compares humeral and tibial cross-sectional rigidity, shape, and interlimb loading among prehistoric Central European women agriculturalists and living European women of known behavior (athletes and controls). Prehistoric female tibial rigidity at all time periods was highly variable, but differed little from living sedentary women on average, and was significantly lower than that of living runners and football players. However, humeral rigidity exceeded that of living athletes for the first ~5500 years of farming, with loading intensity biased heavily toward the upper limb. Interlimb strength proportions among Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age women were most similar to those of living semi-elite rowers. These results suggest that, in contrast to men, rigorous manual labor was a more important component of prehistoric women's behavior than was terrestrial mobility through thousands of years of European agriculture, at levels far exceeding those of modern women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison A. Macintosh
- PAVE (Phenotypic Adaptability, Variation and Evolution) Research Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
| | - Ron Pinhasi
- Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jay T. Stock
- PAVE (Phenotypic Adaptability, Variation and Evolution) Research Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada
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45
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Galbany J, Abavandimwe D, Vakiener M, Eckardt W, Mudakikwa A, Ndagijimana F, Stoinski TS, McFarlin SC. Body growth and life history in wild mountain gorillas (
Gorilla beringei beringei
) from Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 163:570-590. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Revised: 03/29/2017] [Accepted: 04/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Galbany
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human PaleobiologyThe George Washington UniversityWashington, District Columbia
| | | | - Meagan Vakiener
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human PaleobiologyThe George Washington UniversityWashington, District Columbia
| | | | - Antoine Mudakikwa
- Department of Tourism and ConservationRwanda Development BoardKigali Rwanda
| | | | | | - Shannon C. McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human PaleobiologyThe George Washington UniversityWashington, District Columbia
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46
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Ruff CB, Burgess ML, Ketcham RA, Kappelman J. Limb Bone Structural Proportions and Locomotor Behavior in A.L. 288-1 ("Lucy"). PLoS One 2016; 11:e0166095. [PMID: 27902687 PMCID: PMC5130205 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 10/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
While there is broad agreement that early hominins practiced some form of terrestrial bipedality, there is also evidence that arboreal behavior remained a part of the locomotor repertoire in some taxa, and that bipedal locomotion may not have been identical to that of modern humans. It has been difficult to evaluate such evidence, however, because of the possibility that early hominins retained primitive traits (such as relatively long upper limbs) of little contemporaneous adaptive significance. Here we examine bone structural properties of the femur and humerus in the Australopithecus afarensis A.L. 288-1 ("Lucy", 3.2 Myr) that are known to be developmentally plastic, and compare them with other early hominins, modern humans, and modern chimpanzees. Cross-sectional images were obtained from micro-CT scans of the original specimens and used to derive section properties of the diaphyses, as well as superior and inferior cortical thicknesses of the femoral neck. A.L. 288-1 shows femoral/humeral diaphyseal strength proportions that are intermediate between those of modern humans and chimpanzees, indicating more mechanical loading of the forelimb than in modern humans, and by implication, a significant arboreal locomotor component. Several features of the proximal femur in A.L. 288-1 and other australopiths, including relative femoral head size, distribution of cortical bone in the femoral neck, and cross-sectional shape of the proximal shaft, support the inference of a bipedal gait pattern that differed slightly from that of modern humans, involving more lateral deviation of the body center of mass over the support limb, which would have entailed increased cost of terrestrial locomotion. There is also evidence consistent with increased muscular strength among australopiths in both the forelimb and hind limb, possibly reflecting metabolic trade-offs between muscle and brain development during hominin evolution. Together these findings imply significant differences in both locomotor behavior and ecology between australopiths and later Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B. Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - M. Loring Burgess
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Richard A. Ketcham
- Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America
| | - John Kappelman
- Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America
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Burgess ML, Schmitt D, Zeininger A, McFarlin SC, Zihlman AL, Polk JD, Ruff CB. Ontogenetic scaling of fore limb and hind limb joint posture and limb bone cross-sectional geometry in vervets and baboons. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 161:72-83. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2015] [Revised: 04/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Loring Burgess
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore MD
| | - Daniel Schmitt
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology; Duke University; Durham NC
| | - Angel Zeininger
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology; Duke University; Durham NC
| | - Shannon C. McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, the George Washington University; Washington DC
| | | | - John D. Polk
- Department of Anthropology; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Urbana IL
| | - Christopher B. Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore MD
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Tocheri MW, Dommain R, McFarlin SC, Burnett SE, Troy Case D, Orr CM, Roach NT, Villmoare B, Eriksen AB, Kalthoff DC, Senck S, Assefa Z, Groves CP, Jungers WL. The evolutionary origin and population history of the grauer gorilla. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 159:S4-S18. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2015] [Revised: 11/10/2015] [Accepted: 11/10/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew W. Tocheri
- Department of AnthropologyLakehead UniversityThunder Bay OntarioP7B 5E1 Canada
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionWashington, DC20013 USA
| | - René Dommain
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionWashington, DC20013 USA
| | - Shannon C. McFarlin
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid PaleobiologyThe George Washington UniversityWashington, DC20052 USA
- Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian InstitutionWashington, DC20013 USA
| | - Scott E. Burnett
- Department of AnthropologyEckerd CollegeSt Petersburg FL33711 USA
| | - D. Troy Case
- Department of Sociology and AnthropologyNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleigh NC27695 USA
| | - Caley M. Orr
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Colorado School of MedicineAurora CO80045 USA
| | - Neil T. Roach
- Department of Human Evolutionary BiologyHarvard UniversityCambridge, MA02138
- Division of AnthropologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew York, NY10024 USA
| | - Brian Villmoare
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Nevada Las VegasLas Vegas NV89154 USA
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity College LondonLondonWC1H 0BW UK
| | - Amandine B. Eriksen
- Department of AnthropologyThe State University of New YorkBuffalo NY14260 USA
| | | | - Sascha Senck
- Fakultät für Technik und Umweltwissenschaften, University of Applied Sciences Upper AustriaWels4600 Austria
| | - Zelalem Assefa
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionWashington, DC20013 USA
| | - Colin P. Groves
- School of Archaeology and AnthropologyAustralian National UniversityCanberraACT 0200 Australia
| | - William L. Jungers
- Department of Anatomical SciencesStony Brook University Medical CenterStony Brook NY11794 USA
- Association VahatraBP3972 Madagascar
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49
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Reeves NM, Auerbach BM, Sylvester AD. Fluctuating and directional asymmetry in the long bones of captive cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 160:41-51. [PMID: 26801822 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2015] [Revised: 12/17/2015] [Accepted: 12/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Skeletal asymmetries reflect developmental stability and mechanical, functional, and physiological influences on bone growth. In humans, researchers have documented the greatest limb bone bilateral asymmetry in diaphyseal breadths, with less asymmetry in articular and maximum length dimensions. However, it remains unclear as to whether the pattern observed for humans is representative of nonhuman primates, wherein bilateral loading may minimize directional asymmetry. This study adds to the small body of asymmetry data on nonhuman primates by investigating patterns of long bone asymmetry in a skeletal sample of Saguinus oedipus (cotton-top tamarin). MATERIALS AND METHODS Humeri, radii, ulnae, femora, and tibiae of 76 adult captive cotton-top tamarin skeletons (48 males, 28 females) were measured bilaterally. We included maximum length, midshaft diaphyseal breadths, and at least one articular measurement for each bone to assess directional (DA) and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in each dimension. RESULTS Most dimensions exhibit significant FA, and very few have significant DA; DA is limited to the lower limb, especially in knee dimensions. Overall, the magnitudes of asymmetry in tamarins have a consistent ranking that follows the same pattern as found in humans. DISCUSSION This first study of DA and FA among multiple dimensions throughout the limbs of a non-hominoid primate suggests that previously-reported patterns of human bilateral asymmetry are not exclusive to humans. The results further indicate potential underlying differences in constraints on variation within limb bones. While processes shaping variation await further study, our results argue that different long bone dimensions may reflect dissimilar evolutionary processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M Reeves
- Department of Anatomy, Ross University School of Medicine, Portsmouth, Dominica
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
| | | | - Adam D Sylvester
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
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50
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Sarringhaus LA, MacLatchy LM, Mitani JC. Long bone cross-sectional properties reflect changes in locomotor behavior in developing chimpanzees. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 160:16-29. [PMID: 26780478 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2015] [Revised: 12/08/2015] [Accepted: 12/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Recent studies indicate that the locomotor behavior of wild chimpanzees changes during development. Before transitioning to quadrupedal knuckle-walking in adulthood, young chimpanzees engage in a significant amount of upper limb loading suspensory behavior. We investigated whether these dramatic changes in locomotion influence the strength and shape of chimpanzee long bones. MATERIALS AND METHODS We examined changes in chimpanzee arboreal locomotion over the course of development using behavioral data collected on wild chimpanzees. We measured the midshaft geometric properties of femora and humeri of wild-caught individuals housed in museum collections using micro computed tomographic scans. RESULTS Chimpanzees spent less time moving arboreally as they aged. Femoral/humeral strength ratios also increased with age, as predicted by the changing loading environment during development. Additional analyses revealed that femoral shape, but not humeral shape, varied across chimpanzee age classes. Adult femora were more elliptical compared with those of infants. This change in adult femora is consistent with the observation that adult chimpanzees spend most of their time moving terrestrially and consequently experience a less variable loading environment than do infants. DISCUSSION Taken together, these findings contribute to our understanding of how ontogenetic changes in function affect form. As similar changes may have characterized the behavioral and skeletal ontogeny of extinct hominoids including hominins, these findings furnish a potential means to make inferences about the behavior of fossil taxa based on the structural properties of their bones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren A Sarringhaus
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, Palaeosciences Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.,University of Maryland University College Europe, PE28 4DE, England
| | - Laura M MacLatchy
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109
| | - John C Mitani
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109
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