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Korpinen N. Differences in vertebral bone density between African apes. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 184:e24937. [PMID: 38644542 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24937] [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: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Low-energy vertebral fractures are a common health concern, especially in elderly people. Interestingly, African apes do not seem to experience as many vertebral fractures and the low-energy ones are even rarer. One potential explanation for this difference is the lower bone density in humans. Yet, only limited research has been done on the vertebral bone density of the great apes and these have mainly included only single vertebrae. Hence the study aim is to expand our understanding of the vertebral microstructure of African apes in multiple spinal segments. MATERIALS Bone density in the vertebral body of C7, T12, and L3 was measured from 32 Pan troglodytes and 26 Gorilla gorilla using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). RESULTS There was a clear difference between the three individual vertebrae and consequently the spinal segments in terms of trabecular density and cortical density and thickness. The variation of these bone parameters between the vertebrae differed between the apes but was also different from those reported for humans. The chimpanzees were observed to have overall higher trabecular density, but gorillas had higher cortical density and thickness. Cortical thickness had a relatively strong association with the vertebral size. DISCUSSION Despite the similarity in locomotion and posture, the results show slight differences in the bone parameters and their variation between spinal segments in African apes. This variation also differs from humans and appears to indicate a complex influence of locomotion, posture, and body size on the different spinal segments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niina Korpinen
- Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Roca-Ayats N, Maceda I, Bruque CD, Martínez-Gil N, Garcia-Giralt N, Cozar M, Mellibovsky L, Van Hul W, Lao O, Grinberg D, Balcells S. Evolutionary and functional analyses of LRP5 in archaic and extant modern humans. Hum Genomics 2024; 18:53. [PMID: 38802968 PMCID: PMC11131306 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00616-6] [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: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The human lineage has undergone a postcranial skeleton gracilization (i.e. lower bone mass and strength relative to body size) compared to other primates and archaic populations such as the Neanderthals. This gracilization has been traditionally explained by differences in the mechanical load that our ancestors exercised. However, there is growing evidence that gracilization could also be genetically influenced. RESULTS We have analyzed the LRP5 gene, which is known to be associated with high bone mineral density conditions, from an evolutionary and functional point of view. Taking advantage of the published genomes of archaic Homo populations, our results suggest that this gene has a complex evolutionary history both between archaic and living humans and within living human populations. In particular, we identified the presence of different selective pressures in archaics and extant modern humans, as well as evidence of positive selection in the African and South East Asian populations from the 1000 Genomes Project. Furthermore, we observed a very limited evidence of archaic introgression in this gene (only at three haplotypes of East Asian ancestry out of the 1000 Genomes), compatible with a general erasing of the fingerprint of archaic introgression due to functional differences in archaics compared to extant modern humans. In agreement with this hypothesis, we observed private mutations in the archaic genomes that we experimentally validated as putatively increasing bone mineral density. In particular, four of five archaic missense mutations affecting the first β-propeller of LRP5 displayed enhanced Wnt pathway activation, of which two also displayed reduced negative regulation. CONCLUSIONS In summary, these data suggest a genetic component contributing to the understanding of skeletal differences between extant modern humans and archaic Homo populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neus Roca-Ayats
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística and IBUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Iago Maceda
- CNAG, Centre Nacional d'Analisi Genòmic, C/ Baldiri I Reixach 4, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carlos David Bruque
- Unidad de Conocimiento Traslacional Hospitalaria Patagónica, Hospital de Alta Complejidad El Calafate - S.A.M.I.C., Santa Cruz, Argentina
| | - Núria Martínez-Gil
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística and IBUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Natàlia Garcia-Giralt
- Musculoskeletal Research Group, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), ISCIII, Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, UB, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mónica Cozar
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística and IBUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Leonardo Mellibovsky
- Musculoskeletal Research Group, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Wim Van Hul
- Center of Medical Genetics, University of Antwerp, 2650, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Oscar Lao
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Daniel Grinberg
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística and IBUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Susanna Balcells
- Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística and IBUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), Barcelona, Spain
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Syeda SM, Tsegai ZJ, Cazenave M, Skinner MM, Kivell TL. Cortical bone architecture of hominid intermediate phalanges reveals functional signals of locomotion and manipulation. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 184:e24902. [PMID: 38400773 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24902] [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: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Reconstruction of fossil hominin manual behaviors often relies on comparative analyses of extant hominid hands to understand the relationship between hand use and skeletal morphology. In this context, the intermediate phalanges remain understudied. Thus, here we investigate cortical bone morphology of the intermediate phalanges of extant hominids and compare it to the cortical structure of the proximal phalanges, to investigate the relationship between cortical bone structure and inferred loading during manual behaviors. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using micro-CT data, we analyze cortical bone structure of the intermediate phalangeal shaft of digits 2-5 in Pongo pygmaeus (n = 6 individuals), Gorilla gorilla (n = 22), Pan spp. (n = 23), and Homo sapiens (n = 23). The R package morphomap is used to study cortical bone distribution, cortical thickness and cross-sectional properties within and across taxa. RESULTS Non-human great apes generally have thick cortical bone on the palmar shaft, with Pongo only having thick cortex on the peaks of the flexor sheath ridges, while African apes have thick cortex along the entire flexor sheath ridge and proximal to the trochlea. Humans are distinct in having thicker dorsal shaft cortex as well as thick cortex at the disto-palmar region of the shaft. DISCUSSION Variation in cortical bone distribution and properties of the intermediate phalanges is consistent with differences in locomotor and manipulative behaviors in extant great apes. Comparisons between the intermediate and proximal phalanges reveals similar patterns of cortical bone distribution within each taxon but with potentially greater load experienced by the proximal phalanges, even in knuckle-walking African apes. This study provides a comparative context for the reconstruction of habitual hand use in fossil hominins and hominids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samar M Syeda
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Zewdi J Tsegai
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Marine Cazenave
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), New York, USA
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Cartwright C, Ragni A, Hublin JJ, Chirchir H. Trabecular bone volume fraction in Holocene and Late Pleistocene humans. J Hum Evol 2024; 190:103499. [PMID: 38569444 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103499] [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: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Research suggests that recent modern humans have gracile skeletons in having low trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and that gracilization of the skeleton occurred in the last 10,000 years. This has been attributed to a reduction in physical activity in the Holocene. However, there has been no thorough sampling of BV/TV in Pleistocene humans due to limited access to high resolution images of fossil specimens. Therefore, our study investigates the gracilization of BV/TV in Late Pleistocene humans and recent (Holocene) modern humans to improve our understanding of the emergence of gracility. We used microcomputed tomography to measure BV/TV in the femora, humeri and metacarpals of a sample of Late Pleistocene humans from Dolní Věstonice (Czech Republic, ∼26 ka, n = 6) and Ohalo II (Israel, ∼19 ka, n = 1), and a sample of recent humans including farming groups (n = 39) and hunter-gatherers (n = 6). We predicted that 1) Late Pleistocene humans would exhibit greater femoral and humeral head BV/TV compared with recent humans and 2) among recent humans, metacarpal head BV/TV would be greater in hunter-gatherers compared with farmers. Late Pleistocene humans had higher BV/TV compared with recent humans in both the femur and humerus, supporting our first prediction, and consistent with previous findings that Late Pleistocene humans are robust as compared to recent humans. However, among recent humans, there was no significant difference in BV/TV in the metacarpals between the two subsistence groups. The results highlight the similarity in BV/TV in the hand of two human groups from different geographic locales and subsistence patterns and raise questions about assumptions of activity levels in archaeological populations and their relationships to trabecular BV/TV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Cartwright
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, 1 John Marshall Drive, Huntington, WV, 25755, USA.
| | - Anna Ragni
- Department of Biology, University of Tampa, 401 W. Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33606, USA
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241 - U1050), Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin-Berthelot, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Habiba Chirchir
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, 1 John Marshall Drive, Huntington, WV, 25755, USA; Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O Box 37012, Room 153, MRC 010, Washington, DC 20013, USA.
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Korpinen N. Comparison of bone density patterns of the subaxial spine between chimpanzees and gorillas - A case study. J Med Primatol 2023; 52:85-91. [PMID: 36420796 DOI: 10.1111/jmp.12627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Case study on the bone density pattern of subaxial vertebral column in African apes. INTRODUCTION African apes have been noted to experience fewer back ailments than humans and to have higher vertebral bone density. Yet, research on the subject is quite limited and has usually included only one or few vertebrae. However, to understand vertebral column as whole and how posture and locomotion might have affected it, we need to know how bone density varies between adjacent vertebrae. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bone density in the vertebral body was measured for all subaxial vertebrae of five specimens including two Pan troglodytes (1 male and 1 female) and three Gorilla gorilla (2 males and 1 female) using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). RESULTS The results tentatively indicated differences between species, especially in the trabecular density of the cervical segment and support the need for further studies on this subject.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niina Korpinen
- Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Chirchir H, Ruff C, Helgen KM, Potts R. Effects of reduced mobility on trabecular bone density in captive big cats. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211345. [PMID: 35360345 PMCID: PMC8965411 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Bone responds to elevated mechanical loading by increasing in mass and density. Therefore, wild animals should exhibit greater skeletal mass and density than captive conspecifics. This expectation is pertinent to testing bone functional adaptation theories and to comparative studies, which commonly use skeletal remains that combine zoo and wild-caught specimens. Conservationists are also interested in the effects of captivity on bone morphology as it may influence rewilding success. We compared trabecular bone volume fraction (BVF) between wild and captive mountain lions, cheetahs, leopards and jaguars. We found significantly greater BVF in wild than in captive felids. Effects of captivity were more marked in the humerus than in the femur. A ratio of humeral/femoral BVF was also lower in captive animals and showed a positive relationship to home range size in wild animals. Results are consistent with greater forelimb than hindlimb loading during terrestrial travel, and possibly reduced loading of the forelimb associated with lack of predatory behaviour in captive animals. Thus, captivity among felids has general effects on BVF in the postcranial skeleton and location-specific effects related to limb use. Caution should be exercised when identifying skeletal specimens for use in comparative studies and when rearing animals for conservation purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Habiba Chirchir
- Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755-0003, USA
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Christopher Ruff
- Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | | | - Richard Potts
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
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van Spelde AM, Schroeder H, Kjellström A, Lidén K. Approaches to osteoporosis in paleopathology: How did methodology shape bone loss research? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2021; 33:245-257. [PMID: 34044198 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This paper will review how different methods employed to study bone loss in the past were used to explore different questions and aspects of bone loss, how methodology has changed over time, and how these different approaches have informed our understanding of bone loss in the past. MATERIALS AND METHODS A review and discussion is conducted on research protocols and results of 84 paleopathology publications on bone loss in archaeological skeletal collections published between 1969 and 2021. CONCLUSIONS The variety in research protocols confounds accurate meta-analysis of previously published research; however, more recent publications incorporate a combination of bone mass and bone quality based methods. Biased sample selection has resulted in a predominance of European and Medieval publications, limiting more general observations on bone loss in the past. Collection of dietary or paleopathological covariables is underemployed in the effort to interpret bone loss patterns. SIGNIFICANCE Paleopathology publications have demonstrated differences in bone loss between distinct archaeological populations, between sex and age groups, and have suggested factors underlying observed differences. However, a lack of a gold standard has encouraged the use of a wide range of methods. Understanding how this array of methods effects results is crucial in contextualizing our knowledge of bone loss in the past. LIMITATIONS The development of a research protocol is also influenced by available expertise, available equipment, restrictions imposed by the curator, and site-specific taphonomic aspects. These factors will likely continue to cause (minor) biases even if a best practice can be established. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Greater effort to develop uniform terminology and operational definitions of osteoporosis in skeletal remains, as well as the expansion of time scale and geographical areas studied. The Next-Generation Sequencing revolution has also opened up the possibility of ancient DNA analyses to study genetic predisposition to bone loss in the past.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Marijn van Spelde
- Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden; The Globe Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Hannes Schroeder
- The Globe Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anna Kjellström
- Osteological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kerstin Lidén
- Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
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Chevalier T, Colard T, Colombo A, Golovanova L, Doronichev V, Hublin JJ. Early ontogeny of humeral trabecular bone in Neandertals and recent modern humans. J Hum Evol 2021; 154:102968. [PMID: 33774376 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Trabecular bone ontogeny is well known in modern humans and unknown in Neandertals. Yet the bone developmental pattern is useful for interpreting fossils from evolutionary and functional perspectives. Interestingly, microstructure in early ontogeny is supposedly not influenced by high and specific mechanical loading related to the lifestyle of a human group and consequently does not directly depend on the activities of hunter-gatherers. Here, we specifically explored the early growth trajectories of the trabecular bone structure of the humerus and emphasized in particular how bone fraction (bone volume/total volume [BV/TV]) was built up in Neandertals, given the specific modern human bone loss after birth and the use of BV/TV in functional studies. Six Neandertals and 26 recent modern humans ranging from perinates to adolescents were included in this study. Six trabecular parameters were measured within a cubic region of interest extracted from the proximal metaphysis of the humerus. We found that the microstructural changes in Neandertals during early ontogeny (<1 year) fit with modern human growth trajectories for each parameter. The specific bone loss occurring immediately after birth in modern humans also occurred in Neandertals (but not in chimpanzees). However, the early childhood fossil Ferrassie 6 presented unexpectedly high BV/TV, whereas the high BV/TV in the Crouzade I adolescent was predictable. These results suggest that Neandertals and modern humans shared predetermined early growth trajectories and developmental mechanisms. We assume that the close relationship between skeletal characteristics in early ontogeny and adults in modern humans also existed in Neandertals. However, it was difficult to ensure that the high BV/TV in Neandertal early childhood, represented by only one individual, was at the origin of the high BV/TV observed in adults. Consequently, our study does not challenge the mechanical hypothesis that explains the trabecular gracilization of the humerus during the Holocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tony Chevalier
- UMR 7194 HNHP, University of Perpignan Via Domitia, EPCC-CERP de Tautavel, Avenue Léon Jean Grégory 66720 Tautavel, France.
| | - Thomas Colard
- UMR 5199 PACEA, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC; LabEx Sciences Archéologiques de Bordeaux, N°ANR-10-LABX-52, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS50023, F-33615 Pessac, France; Department of Orthodontics, University of Lille, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Antony Colombo
- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL University, Chair of Biological Anthropology Paul Broca, 4-14 Rue Ferrus, F-75014 Paris, France
| | | | | | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; Chaire Internationale de Paléoanthropologie du Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France
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Chirchir H. Trabecular bone in domestic dogs and wolves: Implications for understanding human self‐domestication. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2020; 304:31-41. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.24510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Habiba Chirchir
- Department of Biological Sciences Marshall University Huntington West Virginia USA
- Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Washington District of Columbia USA
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Mulder B, Stock JT, Saers JPP, Inskip SA, Cessford C, Robb JE. Intrapopulation variation in lower limb trabecular architecture. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 173:112-129. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Revised: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Bram Mulder
- University of Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge UK
| | - Jay T. Stock
- University of Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge UK
- Department of Anthropology University of Western Ontario London Canada
- Department of Archaeology Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Jena Germany
| | - Jaap P. P. Saers
- University of Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge UK
| | - Sarah A. Inskip
- University of Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge UK
| | - Craig Cessford
- University of Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge UK
| | - John E. Robb
- University of Cambridge, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge UK
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Stieglitz J, Trumble BC, Finch CE, Li D, Budoff MJ, Kaplan H, Gurven MD. Computed tomography shows high fracture prevalence among physically active forager-horticulturalists with high fertility. eLife 2019; 8:48607. [PMID: 31418688 PMCID: PMC6726459 DOI: 10.7554/elife.48607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern humans have more fragile skeletons than other hominins, which may result from physical inactivity. Here, we test whether reproductive effort also compromises bone strength, by measuring using computed tomography thoracic vertebral bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture prevalence among physically active Tsimane forager-horticulturalists. Earlier onset of reproduction and shorter interbirth intervals are associated with reduced BMD for women. Tsimane BMD is lower versus Americans, but only for women, contrary to simple predictions relying on inactivity to explain skeletal fragility. Minimal BMD differences exist between Tsimane and American men, suggesting that systemic factors other than fertility (e.g. diet) do not easily explain Tsimane women's lower BMD. Tsimane fracture prevalence is also higher versus Americans. Lower BMD increases Tsimane fracture risk, but only for women, suggesting a role of weak bone in women's fracture etiology. Our results highlight the role of sex-specific mechanisms underlying skeletal fragility that operate long before menopause.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Stieglitz
- Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France.,Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Benjamin C Trumble
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States.,School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
| | | | - Caleb E Finch
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
| | - Dong Li
- School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, United States
| | - Matthew J Budoff
- Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Harbor-University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center, Torrance, United States
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Economic Science Institute, Chapman University, Orange, United States
| | - Michael D Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
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