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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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2
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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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3
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Syeda SM, Tsegai ZJ, Cazenave M, Skinner MM, Kivell TL. Cortical bone distribution of the proximal phalanges in great apes: implications for reconstructing manual behaviours. J Anat 2023; 243:707-728. [PMID: 37358024 PMCID: PMC10557399 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13918] [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: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Primate fingers are typically in direct contact with the environment during both locomotion and manipulation, and aspects of external phalangeal morphology are known to reflect differences in hand use. Since bone is a living tissue that can adapt in response to loading through life, the internal bone architecture of the manual phalanges should also reflect differences in manual behaviours. Here, we use the R package Morphomap to analyse high-resolution microCT scans of hominid proximal phalanges of digits 2-5 to determine whether cortical bone structure reflects variation in manual behaviours between bipedal (Homo), knuckle-walking (Gorilla, Pan) and suspensory (Pongo) taxa. We test the hypothesis that relative cortical bone distribution patterns and cross-sectional geometric properties will differ both among extant great apes and across the four digits due to locomotor and postural differences. Results indicate that cortical bone structure reflects the varied hand postures employed by each taxon. The phalangeal cortices of Pongo are significantly thinner and have weaker cross-sectional properties relative to the African apes, yet thick cortical bone under their flexor sheath ridges corresponds with predicted loading during flexed finger grips. Knuckle-walking African apes have even thicker cortical bone under the flexor sheath ridges, as well as in the region proximal to the trochlea, but Pan also has thicker diaphyseal cortices than Gorilla. Humans display a distinct pattern of distodorsal thickening, as well as relatively thin cortices, which may reflect the lack of phalangeal curvature combined with frequent use of flexed fingered hand grips during manipulation. Within each taxon, digits 2-5 have a similar cortical distribution in Pongo, Gorilla and, unexpectedly, Homo, which suggest similar loading of all fingers during habitual locomotion or hand use. In Pan, however, cortical thickness differs between the fingers, potentially reflecting differential loading during knuckle-walking. Inter- and intra-generic variation in phalangeal cortical bone structure reflects differences in manual behaviours, offering a comparative framework for reconstructing hand use in fossil hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samar M. Syeda
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
| | - Zewdi J. Tsegai
- Department of Organismal Biology and AnatomyUniversity of ChicagoChicagoIllinoisUSA
| | - Marine Cazenave
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
- Division of AnthropologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Health SciencesUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
| | - Matthew M. Skinner
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- Department of Human OriginsMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
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4
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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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5
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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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Bird EE, Kivell TL, Skinner MM. Patterns of internal bone structure and functional adaptation in the hominoid scaphoid, lunate, and triquetrum. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emma E. Bird
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation University of Kent Canterbury UK
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation University of Kent Canterbury 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 UK
- Department of Human Evolution Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
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7
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Arias-Martorell J, Zeininger A, Kivell TL. Trabecular structure of the elbow reveals divergence in knuckle-walking biomechanical strategies of African apes. Evolution 2021; 75:2959-2971. [PMID: 34570906 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
African apes engage in a distinct form of locomotion called knuckle-walking, but there is much ambiguity as to when and how this locomotor behavior evolved. This study aims to elucidate potential differences in knuckle-walking elbow posture and loading in African apes through the study of trabecular bone. Using a whole-epiphysis approach, we quantified variation in the trabecular structure of the distal humerus of chimpanzees, western lowland gorillas, and mountain gorillas in comparison to orang-utans, siamangs, and a sample of Old and New World monkeys. Results demonstrate differences in the distribution of trabecular bone within the distal humerus that are consistent across taxa that habitually use a flexed-elbow posture in comparison to those that use an extended elbow during locomotion. Western lowland gorillas show an extended-elbow pattern consistent with the straight forelimb position during knuckle-walking, whereas chimpanzees show a flexed-elbow pattern. Unexpectedly, mountain gorillas show an intermediate pattern between their western counterparts and chimpanzees. The differences found in elbow joint posture between chimpanzees and gorillas, and between gorilla species, point to diversification in the knuckle-walking biomechanical strategies among African apes, which has implications in the debate regarding the locomotor behavior from which human bipedalism arose.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Arias-Martorell
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.,Animal Postcranial Evolution (APE) Laboratory, School of Anthropology and Conservation, Marlowe Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Angel Zeininger
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Animal Postcranial Evolution (APE) Laboratory, School of Anthropology and Conservation, Marlowe Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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8
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Webb NM. The Functional and Allometric Implications of Hipbone Trabecular Microarchitecture in a Sample of Eutherian and Metatherian Mammals. Evol Biol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-021-09543-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe pelvis plays an active role in weight bearing and countering the ground reaction forces incurred by the hindlimbs thus making it a critical component of the locomotor skeleton. Accordingly, this anatomical region is theoretically ideal for inferring locomotor behavior from both external skeletal morphology and trabecular microarchitecture, with the latter possibly offering nuanced insights into the mechanical loading environment given its increased plasticity and higher turnover rate. However, trabecular microarchitecture is also known to be influenced by a variety of factors including body size, sex, age, genetic regulation, diet and activity level, that collectively hinder the ability to generate consistent functional inferences. In this study, a comparative sample of mammals (42 species spanning four orders) of varying sizes, yet comparable locomotor repertoires, were evaluated to determine the effects of body size, phylogeny and locomotion on hipbone trabecular microarchitecture. This study found a weak functional signal detected in differences in bone volume fraction and the degree of anisotropy across certain pre-assigned locomotor categories, while confirming previously recognized allometric scaling trends reported for other mammalian samples based on the femur. Within primates, a more anisotropic pattern was observed for quadrupedal species attributed to their repetitive loading regimes and stereotypical limb excursions, while isotropic values were revealed for taxa utilizing more varied arboreal repertoires. Humans, despite a frequent and predictable loading environment associated with their use of bipedalism, showed relatively isotropic values. This study highlights the confounding factors that influence trabecular microarchitecture and consequently limit its utility as a method for investigating locomotor adaptation.
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9
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Bird EE, Kivell TL, Skinner MM. Cortical and trabecular bone structure of the hominoid capitate. J Anat 2021; 239:351-373. [PMID: 33942895 PMCID: PMC8273598 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Morphological variation in the hominoid capitate has been linked to differences in habitual locomotor activity due to its importance in movement and load transfer at the midcarpal joint proximally and carpometacarpal joints distally. Although the shape of bones and their articulations are linked to joint mobility, the internal structure of bones has been shown experimentally to reflect, at least in part, the loading direction and magnitude experienced by the bone. To date, it is uncertain whether locomotor differences among hominoids are reflected in the bone microarchitecture of the capitate. Here, we apply a whole‐bone methodology to quantify the cortical and trabecular architecture (separately and combined) of the capitate across bipedal (modern Homo sapiens), knuckle‐walking (Pan paniscus, Pan troglodytes, Gorilla sp.), and suspensory (Pongo sp.) hominoids (n = 69). It is hypothesized that variation in bone microarchitecture will differentiate these locomotor groups, reflecting differences in habitual postures and presumed loading force and direction. Additionally, it is hypothesized that trabecular and cortical architecture in the proximal and distal regions, as a result of being part of mechanically divergent joints proximally and distally, will differ across these portions of the capitate. Results indicate that the capitate of knuckle‐walking and suspensory hominoids is differentiated from bipedal Homo primarily by significantly thicker distal cortical bone. Knuckle‐walking taxa are further differentiated from suspensory and bipedal taxa by more isotropic trabeculae in the proximal capitate. An allometric analysis indicates that size is not a significant determinate of bone variation across hominoids, although sexual dimorphism may influence some parameters within Gorilla. Results suggest that internal trabecular and cortical bone is subjected to different forces and functional adaptation responses across the capitate (and possibly other short bones). Additionally, while separating trabecular and cortical bone is normal protocol of current whole‐bone methodologies, this study shows that when applied to carpals, removing or studying the cortical bone separately potentially obfuscates functionally relevant signals in bone structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma E Bird
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, 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, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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10
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Tommy KA, Zipfel B, Kibii J, Carlson KJ. Trabecular bone properties in the ilium of the Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age Border Cave 3 Homo sapiens infant and the onset of independent gait. J Hum Evol 2021; 155:102984. [PMID: 33945891 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The Border Cave 3 (BC3) infant skeleton has been understudied, despite its importance as an example of a well-preserved and fairly complete immature skeleton of early Homo sapiens which potentially provides a rare window into various aspects of ontogenetic development, including locomotor activity (e.g., timing of gait events). Trabecular structure in the BC3 ilium was evaluated to investigate whether it matches that of an equivalently aged infant from a postindustrialized society. Microcomputed tomography (μCT) scans were acquired from the BC3 infant and from an ontogenetic series of 25 postindustrial infants that were divided into three age classes (ACs) ranging from neonates to toddlers (<36 months). All ilia were qualitatively compared and then digitally subdivided into 10 volumes of interest (VOIs) based on anatomical reference points. The VOIs were quantified and ontogenetic differences in trabecular structure were statistically evaluated. Across the comparative ontogenetic series, trabecular architectural properties overlapped in all regions. However, trabecular thickness increased significantly after the first year of life. The BC3 infant demonstrated generally similar trabecular structure to that observed in the age-equivalent postindustrial infants (AC2), including relatively strong development of the trabecular chiasma qualitatively. However, some interesting distinctions were observed in BC3, such as low strut thickness compared with infants from the postindustrial sample, that bear further exploration in future studies. Evaluation of only one individual from the Middle Stone Age (MSA), coupled with the relatively small comparative sample, limit our ability to distinguish more meaningful biological differences in trabecular structure throughout ontogeny from idiosyncratic characteristics. Nonetheless, results of this study extend ongoing research on infant locomotor and morphological development to archeological populations in the Middle Stone Age. Further cross-cultural studies consisting of larger comparative postindustrial samples may provide additional information on trabecular structure in the infant ilium during this important developmental timeframe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberleigh A Tommy
- Human Variation and Identification Research Unit, School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
| | - Bernhard Zipfel
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
| | - Job Kibii
- Earth Sciences Department, Palaeontology Section, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Kristian J Carlson
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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11
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Veneziano A, Cazenave M, Alfieri F, Panetta D, Marchi D. Novel strategies for the characterization of cancellous bone morphology: Virtual isolation and analysis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175:920-930. [PMID: 33811768 PMCID: PMC8359981 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Revised: 01/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The advent of micro-computed tomography (μCT) made cancellous bone more accessible than ever before. Nevertheless, the characterization of cancellous bone is made difficult by its inherent complexity and the difficulties in defining homology across datasets. Here we propose novel virtual methodological approaches to overcome those issues and complement existing methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS We present a protocol for the isolation of the whole cancellous region within a μCT scanned bone. This method overcomes the subsampling issues and allows studying cancellous bone as a single unit. We test the protocol on a set of primate bones. In addition, we describe a set of morphological indices calculated on the topological skeleton of the cancellous bone: node density, node connectivity, trabecular angle, trabecular tortuosity, and fractal dimension. The usage of the indices is shown on a small comparative sample of primate femoral heads. RESULTS The isolation protocol proves reliable in isolating cancellous structures from several different bones, regardless of their shape. The indices seem to detect some functional differences, although further testing on comparative samples is needed to clarify their potential for the study of cancellous architecture. CONCLUSIONS The approaches presented overcome some of the difficulties of trabecular bone studies. The methods presented here represent an alternative or supporting method to the existing tools available to address the biomechanics of cancellous bone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Veneziano
- Synchrotron Radiation for Medical Physics (SYRMEP), Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A, Trieste, Italy
| | - Marine Cazenave
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre at the School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.,Department of Anatomy and Histology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Fabio Alfieri
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, Germany
| | - Daniele Panetta
- Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Pisa, Italy
| | - Damiano Marchi
- Department of Biology, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.,Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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12
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Cazenave M, Oettlé A, Pickering TR, Heaton JL, Nakatsukasa M, Francis Thackeray J, Hoffman J, Macchiarelli R. Trabecular organization of the proximal femur in Paranthropus robustus: Implications for the assessment of its hip joint loading conditions. J Hum Evol 2021; 153:102964. [PMID: 33713985 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Reconstruction of the locomotor repertoire of the australopiths (Australopithecus and Paranthropus) has progressively integrated information from the mechanosensitive internal structure of the appendicular skeleton. Recent investigations showed that the arrangement of the trabecular network at the femoral head center is biomechanically compatible with the pattern of cortical bone distribution across the neck, both suggesting a full commitment to bipedalism in australopiths, but associated with a slightly altered gait kinematics compared to Homo involving more lateral deviation of the body center of mass over the stance limb. To provide a global picture in Paranthropus robustus of the trabecular architecture of the proximal femur across the head, neck and greater trochanter compartments, we applied techniques of virtual imaging to the variably preserved Early Pleistocene specimens SK 82, SK 97, SK 3121, SKW 19 and SWT1/LB-2 from the cave site of Swartkrans, South Africa. We also assessed the coherence between the structural signals from the center of the head and those from the trabecular network of the inferolateral portion of the head and the inferior margin of the neck, sampling the so-called vertical bundle, which in humans represents the principal compressive system of the joint. Our analyses show a functionally related trabecular organization in Pa. robustus that closely resembles the extant human condition, but which also includes some specificities in local textural arrangement. The network of the inferolateral portion of the head shows a humanlike degree of anisotropy and a bone volume fraction intermediate between the extant human and the African ape patterns. These results suggest slight differences in gait kinematics between Pa. robustus and extant humans. The neck portion of the vertical bundle revealed a less biomechanically sensitive signal. Future investigations on the australopith hip joint loading environment should more carefully investigate the trabecular structure of the trochanteric region and possible structural covariation between cortical bone distribution across the neck and site-specific trabecular properties of the arcuate bundle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marine Cazenave
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
| | - Anna Oettlé
- Department of Anatomy and Histology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Travis Rayne Pickering
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section, Department of Vertebrates, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Transvaal Museum), Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Jason L Heaton
- Department of Biology, Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section, Department of Vertebrates, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Transvaal Museum), Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Masato Nakatsukasa
- Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - J Francis Thackeray
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Jakobus Hoffman
- South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd., Pelindaba, South Africa
| | - Roberto Macchiarelli
- Département Homme & Environnement, UMR 7194 CNRS, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 75116, Paris, France; Unité de Formation Géosciences, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
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13
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Addison BJ, Lieberman DE. Assessing patterns of variation in BV/TV in the calcaneus and C2 vertebra of Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, and populations of Homo sapiens from the Pleistocene and Holocene that differ in physical activity levels. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 173:337-349. [PMID: 33448347 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2019] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Because trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) is influenced by variations in physical activity recent declines in BV/TV in humans are often attributed to modern sedentary lifestyles. This study tests the hypothesis that presumed variations in mechanical loading between groups can predict the observed BV/TV patterns in humans, chimpanzees and gorillas in two bones: the calcaneus which experiences high and well characterized impact forces, and the C2 vertebrae which experiences reduced locomotor forces. MATERIALS AND METHODS BV/TV and other structural variables were quantified from high-resolution microCT scans in gorillas, chimpanzees, and four Homo sapiens populations: Pleistocene, semi-sedentary Natufians; Holocene hunter-gatherers from Point Hope, Alaska; Holocene nomadic pastoralists from medieval Europe; and modern, sedentary Americans. RESULTS In the calcaneal tuberosity, Natufian BV/TV was 36, 46, and 46% greater than Alaskans (p = .02), Europeans (p = .005) and modern Americans (p = .002), respectively, but not significantly different from apes. BV/TV was not significantly different between modern Americans and Alaskans or Europeans. In the C2, Natufian BV/TV was 53 and 25% greater than in the Alaskan (p = .0001) and European (p = .048) populations. DISCUSSION These results suggest that phenomena other than or in addition to variations in physical activity are needed to explain BV/TV patterns observed in H. sapiens, and point to a systemic decline in H. sapiens BV/TV after the Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian J Addison
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Daniel E Lieberman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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14
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Karakostis FA, Wallace IJ, Konow N, Harvati K. Experimental evidence that physical activity affects the multivariate associations among muscle attachments (entheses). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:jeb.213058. [PMID: 31712353 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.213058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The morphology of entheses (muscle/tendon attachment sites) on bones is routinely used in paleontological and bioarcheological studies to infer the physical activity patterns of ancient vertebrate species including hominins. However, such inferences have often been disputed owing to limitations of the quantitative methods commonly employed and a lack of experimental evidence demonstrating direct effects of physical activity on entheseal morphology. Recently, we introduced a new and improved method of quantifying and analyzing entheseal morphology that involves repeatable three-dimensional measurements combined with multivariate statistics focused on associations among multiple entheses. Here, to assess the validity of our method for investigating variation in entheseal morphology related to physical activity patterns, we analyzed femora of growing turkeys that were experimentally exercised for 10 weeks on either an inclined or declined treadmill or served as controls (N=15 individuals, 5 per group). Our multivariate approach identified certain patterns involving three different entheses (associated with the gluteus primus, medial gastrocnemius, vastus medialis and adductor magnus muscles) that clearly differentiated controls from runners. Importantly, these differences were not observable when comparing groups within each of the three entheseal structures separately. Body mass was not correlated with the resulting multivariate patterns. These results provide the first experimental evidence that variation in physical activity patterns has a direct influence on entheseal morphology. Moreover, our findings highlight the promise of our newly developed quantitative methods for analyzing the morphology of entheses to reconstruct the behavior of extinct vertebrate species based on their skeletal remains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fotios Alexandros Karakostis
- Paleoanthropology, Department of Geosciences, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070, Germany
| | - Ian J Wallace
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Nicolai Konow
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
| | - Katerina Harvati
- Paleoanthropology, Department of Geosciences, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070, Germany.,DFG Center for Advanced Studies "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools", Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, D-72070 Tübingen, Germany
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15
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Amson E, Kilbourne BM. Trabecular bone architecture in the stylopod epiphyses of mustelids (Mammalia, Carnivora). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:190938. [PMID: 31824706 PMCID: PMC6837213 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.190938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/20/2019] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Mustelidae, a carnivoran clade that includes for instance weasels, badgers, otters and martens, has undergone several evolutionary transitions of lifestyle, resulting in specializations for fossorial, natatorial and scansorial locomotion, in addition to more generalized species. The family is therefore regarded as offering an adequate framework for morpho-functional analyses. However, the architecture of the epiphyseal trabecular bone, which is argued to be particularly responsive to the biomechanical environment, has never been studied. Here, we quantify trabecular bone parameters of the proximal and distal epiphyses of the humerus and femur in 29 species of mustelids and assess the differences of these parameters among groups defined a priori based on the aforementioned locomotor types. The parameters are assessed in a phylogenetic framework, taking into account the potential effect on an individual's body mass. The range of variation described by the acquired parameters is relatively restricted when compared to that of other clades. Generalists, however, are featuring a wider range of variation than the other types. While clear discrimination of locomotor types is difficult, some differences were highlighted by our analysis, such as a greater bone fraction associated with the natatorial taxa, which we discuss in a functional context.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. Amson
- Author for correspondence: E. Amson e-mail:
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16
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Plasse M, Amson E, Bardin J, Grimal Q, Germain D. Trabecular architecture in the humeral metaphyses of non-avian reptiles (Crocodylia, Squamata and Testudines): Lifestyle, allometry and phylogeny. J Morphol 2019; 280:982-998. [PMID: 31090239 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2018] [Revised: 04/19/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The lifestyle of extinct tetrapods is often difficult to assess when clear morphological adaptations such as swimming paddles are absent. According to the hypothesis of bone functional adaptation, the architecture of trabecular bone adapts sensitively to physiological loadings. Previous studies have already shown a clear relation between trabecular architecture and locomotor behavior, mainly in mammals and birds. However, a link between trabecular architecture and lifestyle has rarely been examined. Here, we analyzed trabecular architecture of different clades of reptiles characterized by a wide range of lifestyles (aquatic, amphibious, generalist terrestrial, fossorial, and climbing). Humeri of squamates, turtles, and crocodylians have been scanned with microcomputed tomography. We selected spherical volumes of interest centered in the proximal metaphyses and measured trabecular spacing, thickness and number, degree of anisotropy, average branch length, bone volume fraction, bone surface density, and connectivity density. Only bone volume fraction showed a significant phylogenetic signal and its significant difference between squamates and other reptiles could be linked to their physiologies. We found negative allometric relationships for trabecular thickness and spacing, positive allometries for connectivity density and trabecular number and no dependence with size for degree of anisotropy and bone volume fraction. The different lifestyles are well separated in the morphological space using linear discriminant analyses, but a cross-validation procedure indicated a limited predictive ability of the model. The trabecular bone anisotropy has shown a gradient in turtles and in squamates: higher values in amphibious than terrestrial taxa. These allometric scalings, previously emphasized in mammals and birds, seem to be valid for all amniotes. Discriminant analysis has offered, to some extent, a distinction of lifestyles, which however remains difficult to strictly discriminate. Trabecular architecture seems to be a promising tool to infer lifestyle of extinct tetrapods, especially those involved in the terrestrialization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martial Plasse
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7207 - CR2P-CNRS-MNHN-Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.,INSERM UMR S 1146, CNRS UMR 7371, Laboratoire d'Imagerie Biomédicale, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Eli Amson
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitatsforschung, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jérémie Bardin
- UMR 7207 - CR2P-CNRS-MNHN- Sorbonne Université, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Quentin Grimal
- INSERM UMR S 1146, CNRS UMR 7371, Laboratoire d'Imagerie Biomédicale, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Damien Germain
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7207 - CR2P-CNRS-MNHN-Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
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17
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Georgiou L, Kivell TL, Pahr DH, Buck LT, Skinner MM. Trabecular architecture of the great ape and human femoral head. J Anat 2019; 234:679-693. [PMID: 30793309 PMCID: PMC6481414 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of femoral trabecular structure have shown that the orientation and volume of bone are associated with variation in loading and could be informative about individual joint positioning during locomotion. In this study, we analyse for the first time trabecular bone patterns throughout the femoral head using a whole-epiphysis approach to investigate how potential trabecular variation in humans and great apes relates to differences in locomotor modes. Trabecular architecture was analysed using microCT scans of Pan troglodytes (n = 20), Gorilla gorilla (n = 14), Pongo sp. (n = 5) and Homo sapiens (n = 12) in medtool 4.1. Our results revealed differences in bone volume fraction (BV/TV) distribution patterns, as well as overall trabecular parameters of the femoral head between great apes and humans. Pan and Gorilla showed two regions of high BV/TV in the femoral head, consistent with hip posture and loading during two discrete locomotor modes: knuckle-walking and climbing. Most Pongo specimens also displayed two regions of high BV/TV, but these regions were less discrete and there was more variability across the sample. In contrast, Homo showed only one main region of high BV/TV in the femoral head and had the lowest BV/TV, as well as the most anisotropic trabeculae. The Homo trabecular structure is consistent with stereotypical loading with a more extended hip compared with great apes, which is characteristic of modern human bipedalism. Our results suggest that holistic evaluations of femoral head trabecular architecture can reveal previously undetected patterns linked to locomotor behaviour in extant apes and can provide further insight into hip joint loading in fossil hominins and other primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leoni Georgiou
- Skeletal Biology Research CentreSchool of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research CentreSchool of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
- Department of Human EvolutionMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
| | - Dieter H. Pahr
- Institute for Lightweight Design and Structural BiomechanicsVienna University of TechnologyViennaAustria
- Department of Anatomy and BiomechanicsKarl Landsteiner Private University of Health SciencesKrems an der DonauAustria
| | - Laura T. Buck
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of CaliforniaDavisCAUSA
| | - Matthew M. Skinner
- Skeletal Biology Research CentreSchool of Anthropology and ConservationUniversity of KentCanterburyUK
- Department of Human EvolutionMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
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18
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Komza K, Skinner MM. First metatarsal trabecular bone structure in extant hominoids and Swartkrans hominins. J Hum Evol 2019; 131:1-21. [PMID: 31182196 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.003] [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: 07/21/2018] [Revised: 02/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Changes in first metatarsal (MT1) morphology within the hominin clade are crucial for reconstructing the evolution of a forefoot adapted for human-like gait. Studies of the external morphology of the MT1 in humans, non-human apes, and fossil hominins have documented changes in its robusticity, epiphyseal shape and its articulation with the medial cuneiform. Here, we test whether trabecular structure in the MT1 reflects different loading patterns in the forefoot across extant large apes and humans, and within this comparative context, infer locomotor behavior in two fossil hominins from Swartkrans, South Africa. Microtomographic scans were collected from the MT1 of Pongo sp. (n = 6), Gorilla gorilla (n = 10), Pan troglodytes (n = 10), Homo sapiens (n = 11), as well as SKX 5017 (Paranthropus robustus), and SK 1813 (Hominin gen. sp. indet.). Trabecular structure was quantified within the head and base using a 'whole-epiphysis' approach with medtool 4.2. We found that modern humans displayed relatively higher bone volume fraction (BV/TV) in the dorsal region of each epiphysis and a higher overall degree of anisotropy (DA), whereas great apes showed higher BV/TV in the plantar regions, reflecting dorsiflexion at the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint in the former and plantarflexion in the latter. Both fossils displayed low DA, with SKX 5017 showing a hyper-dorsal concentration of trabecular bone in the head (similar to humans), while SK 1813 showed a more central trabecular distribution not seen in either humans or non-human apes. Additionally, we found differences between non-human apes, modern humans, and the fossil taxa in trabecular spacing (Tb.Sp.), number (Tb.N.), and thickness (Tb.th.). While low DA in both fossils suggests increased mobility of the MT1, differences in their trabecular distributions could indicate variable locomotion in these Pleistocene hominins (recognizing that the juvenile status of SK 1813 is a potential confounding factor). In particular, evidence for consistent loading in hyper-dorsiflexion in SKX 5017 would suggest locomotor behaviors beyond human-like toe off during terrestrial locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klara Komza
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Canada; School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- 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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19
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Sukhdeo S, Parsons J, Niu XM, Ryan TM. Trabecular Bone Structure in the Distal Femur of Humans, Apes, and Baboons. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2018; 303:129-149. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.24050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Revised: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Simone Sukhdeo
- Department of AnthropologyPennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
| | - Jacob Parsons
- Department of StatisticsPennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
| | - Xiaoyue Maggie Niu
- Department of StatisticsPennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
| | - Timothy M. Ryan
- Department of AnthropologyPennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
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20
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Chirchir H. Trabecular Bone Fraction Variation in Modern Humans, Fossil Hominins and Other Primates. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2018; 302:288-305. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.23967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2017] [Revised: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Habiba Chirchir
- Department of Biological SciencesMarshall University Huntington West Virginia
- Human Origins ProgramNational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C
- Department of AnthropologyNew York University New York New York
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21
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Saers JPP, Ryan TM, Stock JT. Trabecular bone functional adaptation and sexual dimorphism in the human foot. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168:154-169. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jaap P. P. Saers
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge United Kingdom
| | - Timothy M. Ryan
- Department of Anthropology Pennsylvania State University State College Pennsylvania
| | - Jay T. Stock
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology University of Western Ontario London Ontario Canada
- Department of Archaeology Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Jena Germany
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22
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Bishop PJ, Hocknull SA, Clemente CJ, Hutchinson JR, Farke AA, Beck BR, Barrett RS, Lloyd DG. Cancellous bone and theropod dinosaur locomotion. Part I-an examination of cancellous bone architecture in the hindlimb bones of theropods. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5778. [PMID: 30402347 PMCID: PMC6215452 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper is the first of a three-part series that investigates the architecture of cancellous ('spongy') bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs, and uses cancellous bone architectural patterns to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct non-avian species. Cancellous bone is widely known to be highly sensitive to its mechanical environment, and has previously been used to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct tetrapod vertebrates, especially primates. Despite great promise, cancellous bone architecture has remained little utilized for investigating locomotion in many other extinct vertebrate groups, such as dinosaurs. Documentation and quantification of architectural patterns across a whole bone, and across multiple bones, can provide much information on cancellous bone architectural patterns and variation across species. Additionally, this also lends itself to analysis of the musculoskeletal biomechanical factors involved in a direct, mechanistic fashion. On this premise, computed tomographic and image analysis techniques were used to describe and analyse the three-dimensional architecture of cancellous bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs for the first time. A comprehensive survey across many extant and extinct species is produced, identifying several patterns of similarity and contrast between groups. For instance, more stemward non-avian theropods (e.g. ceratosaurs and tyrannosaurids) exhibit cancellous bone architectures more comparable to that present in humans, whereas species more closely related to birds (e.g. paravians) exhibit architectural patterns bearing greater similarity to those of extant birds. Many of the observed patterns may be linked to particular aspects of locomotor biomechanics, such as the degree of hip or knee flexion during stance and gait. A further important observation is the abundance of markedly oblique trabeculae in the diaphyses of the femur and tibia of birds, which in large species produces spiralling patterns along the endosteal surface. Not only do these observations provide new insight into theropod anatomy and behaviour, they also provide the foundation for mechanistic testing of locomotor hypotheses via musculoskeletal biomechanical modelling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. Bishop
- Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research, Engineering and Education Alliance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Current affiliation: Structure and Motion Laboratory, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK
| | - Scott A. Hocknull
- Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Christofer J. Clemente
- School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - John R. Hutchinson
- Structure and Motion Laboratory, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK
| | - Andrew A. Farke
- Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools, Claremont, CA, USA
| | - Belinda R. Beck
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Exercise and Human Performance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - Rod S. Barrett
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research, Engineering and Education Alliance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - David G. Lloyd
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research, Engineering and Education Alliance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
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23
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Russo GA. Trabecular Bone Structural Variation in the Proximal Sacrum Among Primates. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2018; 302:1354-1371. [PMID: 30315635 DOI: 10.1002/ar.23978] [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: 05/31/2018] [Revised: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The sacrum occupies a functionally important anatomical position as part of the pelvic girdle and vertebral column. Sacral orientation and external morphology in modern humans are distinct from those in other primates and compatible with the demands of habitual bipedal locomotion. Among nonhuman primates, however, how sacral anatomy relates to positional behaviors is less clear. As an alternative to evaluation of the sacrum's external morphology, this study assesses if the sacrum's internal morphology (i.e., trabecular bone) differs among extant primates. The primary hypothesis tested is that trabecular bone parameters with established functional relevance will differ in the first sacral vertebra (S1) among extant primates that vary in positional behaviors. Results for analyses of individual variables demonstrate that bone volume fraction, degree of anisotropy, trabecular number, and size-corrected trabecular thickness differ among primates grouped by positional behaviors to some extent, but not always in ways consistent with functional expectations. When examined as a suite, these trabecular parameters distinguish obligate bipeds from other positional behavior groups; and, the latter three trabecular bone variables further distinguish knuckle-walking terrestrial quadrupeds from manual suspensor-brachiators, vertical clingers and leapers, and arboreal quadrupeds, as well as between arboreal and terrestrial quadrupeds. As in other regions of the skeleton in modern humans, trabecular bone in S1 exhibits distinctively low bone volume fraction. Results from this study of extant primate S1 trabecular bone structural variation provide a functional context for interpretations concerning the positional behaviors of extinct primates based on internal sacral morphology. Anat Rec, 302:1354-1371, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle A Russo
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
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24
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Kivell TL, Davenport R, Hublin JJ, Thackeray JF, Skinner MM. Trabecular architecture and joint loading of the proximal humerus in extant hominoids, Ateles, and Australopithecus africanus. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 167:348-365. [PMID: 30129074 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2018] [Revised: 05/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Several studies have investigated potential functional signals in the trabecular structure of the primate proximal humerus but with varied success. Here, we apply for the first time a "whole-epiphyses" approach to analysing trabecular bone in the humeral head with the aim of providing a more holistic interpretation of trabecular variation in relation to habitual locomotor or manipulative behaviors in several extant primates and Australopithecus africanus. MATERIALS AND METHODS We use a "whole-epiphysis" methodology in comparison to the traditional volume of interest (VOI) approach to investigate variation in trabecular structure and joint loading in the proximal humerus of extant hominoids, Ateles and A. africanus (StW 328). RESULTS There are important differences in the quantification of trabecular parameters using a "whole-epiphysis" versus a VOI-based approach. Variation in trabecular structure across knuckle-walking African apes, suspensory taxa, and modern humans was generally consistent with predictions of load magnitude and inferred joint posture during habitual behaviors. Higher relative trabecular bone volume and more isotropic trabeculae in StW 328 suggest A. africanus may have still used its forelimbs for arboreal locomotion. DISCUSSION A whole-epiphysis approach to analysing trabecular structure of the proximal humerus can help distinguish functional signals of joint loading across extant primates and can provide novel insight into habitual behaviors of fossil hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy L Kivell
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, Skeletal Biology Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Rebecca Davenport
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - J Francis Thackeray
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, Skeletal Biology Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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25
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Georgiou L, Kivell TL, Pahr DH, Skinner MM. Trabecular bone patterning in the hominoid distal femur. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5156. [PMID: 30002981 PMCID: PMC6035864 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In addition to external bone shape and cortical bone thickness and distribution, the distribution and orientation of internal trabecular bone across individuals and species has yielded important functional information on how bone adapts in response to load. In particular, trabecular bone analysis has played a key role in studies of human and nonhuman primate locomotion and has shown that species with different locomotor repertoires display distinct trabecular architecture in various regions of the skeleton. In this study, we analyse trabecular structure throughout the distal femur of extant hominoids and test for differences due to locomotor loading regime. METHODS Micro-computed tomography scans of Homo sapiens (n = 11), Pan troglodytes (n = 18), Gorilla gorilla (n = 14) and Pongo sp. (n = 7) were used to investigate trabecular structure throughout the distal epiphysis of the femur. We predicted that bone volume fraction (BV/TV) in the medial and lateral condyles in Homo would be distally concentrated and more anisotropic due to a habitual extended knee posture at the point of peak ground reaction force during bipedal locomotion, whereas great apes would show more posteriorly concentrated BV/TV and greater isotropy due to a flexed knee posture and more variable hindlimb use during locomotion. RESULTS Results indicate some significant differences between taxa, with the most prominent being higher BV/TV in the posterosuperior region of the condyles in Pan and higher BV/TV and anisotropy in the posteroinferior region in Homo. Furthermore, trabecular number, spacing and thickness differ significantly, mainly separating Gorilla from the other apes. DISCUSSION The trabecular architecture of the distal femur holds a functional signal linked to habitual behaviour; however, there was more similarity across taxa and greater intraspecific variability than expected. Specifically, there was a large degree of overlap in trabecular structure across the sample, and Homo was not as distinct as predicted. Nonetheless, this study offers a comparative sample of trabecular structure in the hominoid distal femur and can contribute to future studies of locomotion in extinct taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leoni Georgiou
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Tracy L. Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent, UK
- 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, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Anatomy and Biomechanics, Karl Landsteiner Private University of Health Sciences, Krems an der Donau, Austria
| | - Matthew M. Skinner
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent, UK
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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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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27
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Barak MM, Sherratt E, Lieberman DE. Using principal trabecular orientation to differentiate joint loading orientation in the 3rd metacarpal heads of humans and chimpanzees. J Hum Evol 2017; 113:173-182. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.08.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2016] [Revised: 08/04/2017] [Accepted: 08/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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28
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Amson E, Arnold P, van Heteren AH, Canoville A, Nyakatura JA. Trabecular architecture in the forelimb epiphyses of extant xenarthrans (Mammalia). Front Zool 2017; 14:52. [PMID: 29213295 PMCID: PMC5707916 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-017-0241-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Bone structure has a crucial role in the functional adaptations that allow vertebrates to conduct their diverse lifestyles. Much has been documented regarding the diaphyseal structure of long bones of tetrapods. However, the architecture of trabecular bone, which is for instance found within the epiphyses of long bones, and which has been shown experimentally to be extremely plastic, has received little attention in the context of lifestyle adaptations (virtually only in primates). We therefore investigated the forelimb epiphyses of extant xenarthrans, the placental mammals including the sloths, anteaters, and armadillos. They are characterised by several lifestyles and degrees of fossoriality involving distinct uses of their forelimb. We used micro computed tomography data to acquire 3D trabecular parameters at regions of interest (ROIs) for all extant genera of xenarthrans (with replicates). Traditional, spherical, and phylogenetically informed statistics (including the consideration of size effects) were used to characterise the functional signal of these parameters. Results Several trabecular parameters yielded functional distinctions. The main direction of the trabeculae distinguished lifestyle categories for one ROI (the radial trochlea). Among the other trabecular parameters, it is the degree of anisotropy (i.e., a preferential alignment of the trabeculae) that yielded the clearest functional signal. For all ROIs, the armadillos, which represent the fully terrestrial and fossorial category, were found as characterised by a greater degree of anisotropy (i.e., more aligned trabeculae). Furthermore, the trabeculae of the humeral head of the most fossorial armadillos were also found to be more anisotropic than in the less fossorial species. Conclusions Most parameters were marked by an important intraspecific variability and by a size effect, which could, at least partly, be masking the functional signal. But for some parameters, the degree of anisotropy in particular, a clear functional distinction was recovered. Along with data on primates, our findings suggest that a trabecular architecture characterised by a greater degree of anisotropy is to be expected in species in which the relevant epiphyses withstand a restricted range of load directions. Trabecular architecture therefore is a promising research avenue for the reconstruction of lifestyles in extinct or cryptic species. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12983-017-0241-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli Amson
- AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Philippstraße 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.,Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein Interdisziplinäres Labor, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Sophienstraße 22a, 10178 Berlin, Germany
| | - Patrick Arnold
- Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Erbertstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Anneke H van Heteren
- Sektion Mammalogie, Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Münchhausenstraße 21, 81247 Munich, Germany
| | - Aurore Canoville
- Steinmann Institute for Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nußallee 8, D-53113 Bonn, Germany
| | - John A Nyakatura
- AG Morphologie und Formengeschichte, Institut für Biologie, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Philippstraße 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.,Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein Interdisziplinäres Labor, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Sophienstraße 22a, 10178 Berlin, Germany
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Karakostis FA, Hotz G, Scherf H, Wahl J, Harvati K. Occupational manual activity is reflected on the patterns among hand entheses. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 164:30-40. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Revised: 04/29/2017] [Accepted: 05/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fotios Alexandros Karakostis
- Paleoanthropology; Department of Geosciences, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment; University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070 Germany
| | - Gerhard Hotz
- Anthropological Collection, Natural History Museum of Basel; Basel 4051 Switzerland
| | - Heike Scherf
- Paleoanthropology; Department of Geosciences, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment; University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070 Germany
| | - Joachim Wahl
- Paleoanthropology; Department of Geosciences, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment; University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070 Germany
- Osteology, State Office for Cultural Heritage Management Baden-Württemberg; Konstanz 78467 Germany
| | - Katerina Harvati
- Paleoanthropology; Department of Geosciences, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment; University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070 Germany
- DFG Center for Advanced Studies “Words, Bones, Genes, Tools”, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstraβe 23, D-72070 Tübingen; Germany
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30
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Bishop PJ, Clemente CJ, Hocknull SA, Barrett RS, Lloyd DG. The effects of cracks on the quantification of the cancellous bone fabric tensor in fossil and archaeological specimens: a simulation study. J Anat 2016; 230:461-470. [PMID: 27896808 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancellous bone is very sensitive to its prevailing mechanical environment, and study of its architecture has previously aided interpretations of locomotor biomechanics in extinct animals or archaeological populations. However, quantification of architectural features may be compromised by poor preservation in fossil and archaeological specimens, such as post mortem cracking or fracturing. In this study, the effects of post mortem cracks on the quantification of cancellous bone fabric were investigated through the simulation of cracks in otherwise undamaged modern bone samples. The effect on both scalar (degree of fabric anisotropy, fabric elongation index) and vector (principal fabric directions) variables was assessed through comparing the results of architectural analyses of cracked vs. non-cracked samples. Error was found to decrease as the relative size of the crack decreased, and as the orientation of the crack approached the orientation of the primary fabric direction. However, even in the best-case scenario simulated, error remained substantial, with at least 18% of simulations showing a > 10% error when scalar variables were considered, and at least 6.7% of simulations showing a > 10° error when vector variables were considered. As a 10% (scalar) or 10° (vector) difference is probably too large for reliable interpretation of a fossil or archaeological specimen, these results suggest that cracks should be avoided if possible when analysing cancellous bone architecture in such specimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Bishop
- Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.,School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, Australia.,Innovations in Health Technology, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia
| | - Christofer J Clemente
- School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Qld, Australia
| | - Scott A Hocknull
- Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.,School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, Australia.,Innovations in Health Technology, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia
| | - Rod S Barrett
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, Australia.,Innovations in Health Technology, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia.,Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research and Education Alliance, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia
| | - David G Lloyd
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Southport, Qld, Australia.,Innovations in Health Technology, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia.,Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research and Education Alliance, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia
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31
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Saers JPP, Cazorla-Bak Y, Shaw CN, Stock JT, Ryan TM. Trabecular bone structural variation throughout the human lower limb. J Hum Evol 2016; 97:97-108. [PMID: 27457548 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2016] [Revised: 05/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Trabecular bone is responsive to mechanical loading, and thus may be a useful tool for interpreting past behaviour from fossil morphology. However, the ability to meaningfully interpret variation in archaeological and hominin trabecular morphology depends on the extent to which trabecular bone properties are integrated throughout the postcranium or are locally variable in response to joint specific loading. We investigate both of these factors by comparing trabecular bone throughout the lower limb between a group of highly mobile foragers and two groups of sedentary agriculturalists. Trabecular bone structure is quantified in four volumes of interest placed within the proximal and distal joints of the femur and tibia. We determine how trabecular structures correspond to inferred behavioural differences between populations and whether the patterns are consistent throughout the limb. A significant correlation was found between inferred mobility level and trabecular bone structure in all volumes of interest along the lower limb. The greater terrestrial mobility of foragers is associated with higher bone volume fraction, and thicker and fewer trabeculae (lower connectivity density). In all populations, bone volume fraction decreases while anisotropy increases proximodistally throughout the lower limb. This observation mirrors reductions in cortical bone mass resulting from proximodistal limb tapering. The reduction in strength associated with reduced bone volume fraction may be compensated for by the increased anisotropy in the distal tibia. A similar pattern of trabecular structure is found throughout the lower limb in all populations, upon which a signal of terrestrial mobility appears to be superimposed. These results support the validity of using lower limb trabecular bone microstructure to reconstruct terrestrial mobility levels from the archaeological and fossil records. The results further indicate that care should be taken to appreciate variation resulting from differences in habitual activity when inferring behaviour from the trabecular structure of hominin fossils through comparisons with modern humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaap P P Saers
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
| | - Yasmin Cazorla-Bak
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Colin N Shaw
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jay T Stock
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Timothy M Ryan
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, State College PA, 322 Carpenter Building, United States; Center for Quantitative Imaging, EMS Energy Institute, Pennsylvania State University, State College PA, University Park, PA 16802, United States
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32
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Kivell TL. A review of trabecular bone functional adaptation: what have we learned from trabecular analyses in extant hominoids and what can we apply to fossils? J Anat 2016; 228:569-94. [PMID: 26879841 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Many of the unresolved debates in palaeoanthropology regarding evolution of particular locomotor or manipulative behaviours are founded in differing opinions about the functional significance of the preserved external fossil morphology. However, the plasticity of internal bone morphology, and particularly trabecular bone, allowing it to respond to mechanical loading during life means that it can reveal greater insight into how a bone or joint was used during an individual's lifetime. Analyses of trabecular bone have been commonplace for several decades in a human clinical context. In contrast, the study of trabecular bone as a method for reconstructing joint position, joint loading and ultimately behaviour in extant and fossil non-human primates is comparatively new. Since the initial 2D studies in the late 1970s and 3D analyses in the 1990 s, the utility of trabecular bone to reconstruct behaviour in primates has grown to incorporate experimental studies, expanded taxonomic samples and skeletal elements, and improved methodologies. However, this work, in conjunction with research on humans and non-primate mammals, has also revealed the substantial complexity inherent in making functional inferences from variation in trabecular architecture. This review addresses the current understanding of trabecular bone functional adaptation, how it has been applied to hominoids, as well as other primates and, ultimately, how this can be used to better interpret fossil hominoid and hominin morphology. Because the fossil record constrains us to interpreting function largely from bony morphology alone, and typically from isolated bones, analyses of trabecular structure, ideally in conjunction with that of cortical structure and external morphology, can offer the best resource for reconstructing behaviour in the past.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy L Kivell
- Animal Postcranial Evolution Laboratory, Skeletal Biological Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Scherf H, Wahl J, Hublin JJ, Harvati K. Patterns of activity adaptation in humeral trabecular bone in Neolithic humans and present-day people. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2015; 159:106-15. [PMID: 26293309 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2014] [Revised: 08/04/2015] [Accepted: 08/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The annual turnover rate of trabecular bone by far exceeds that of cortical bone and, therefore, is very sensitive to its daily loading regime. Here we test the hypothesis that the study of the trabecular bone architecture of the human humerus is able to differentiate between different habitual manual activities. MATERIALS AND METHODS For this purpose, we compared the trabecular architecture of the humeral head in a Neolithic population to that of a sample of contemporary Europeans using micro-computed tomography (microCT). We defined in each specimen a spherical volume of interest with a diameter of 57.5 ± 2.5% of the maximal diameter of the humeral head to metrically analyze the bulk of humeral head trabecular architecture. We subsequently quantified the trabecular architectures in the VOIs, measuring seven standard 3D-morphometric parameters, and used univariate and multivariate statistical analyses for comparisons within and between populations. RESULTS Univariate statistical analysis showed significant differences in a combination of 3D-morphometric parameters. A principal components analysis of the 3D-morphometrics of the trabecular architectures separated the Neolithic from the contemporary samples on the basis of differences in their gross trabecular architecture, including differences in the bone volume fraction (BV/TV), the number of trabeculae per unit length (Tb N), and the distance between trabeculae (Tb Sp). DISCUSSION We interpret the significant differences found in the humeral trabecular bone of the Neolithic and the contemporary group as likely reflecting the distinct manual working routines. The trabecular bone configuration in the Neolithic sample shows presumably functional signatures of prehistoric subsistence techniques and activity levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heike Scherf
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls University, Rümelinstraße 23, Tübingen, 72070, Germany
| | - Joachim Wahl
- Landesamt Für Denkmalpflege, Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, Stromeyersdorfstraße 3, Konstanz, 78467, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - Katerina Harvati
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls University, Rümelinstraße 23, Tübingen, 72070, Germany
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34
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An ontogenetic framework linking locomotion and trabecular bone architecture with applications for reconstructing hominin life history. J Hum Evol 2015; 81:1-12. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2013] [Revised: 10/16/2014] [Accepted: 01/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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35
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Matarazzo SA. Trabecular architecture of the manual elements reflects locomotor patterns in primates. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0120436. [PMID: 25793781 PMCID: PMC4368714 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2014] [Accepted: 01/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The morphology of trabecular bone has proven sensitive to loading patterns in the long bones and metacarpal heads of primates. It is expected that we should also see differences in the manual digits of primates that practice different methods of locomotion. Primate proximal and middle phalanges are load-bearing elements that are held in different postures and experience different mechanical strains during suspension, quadrupedalism, and knuckle walking. Micro CT scans of the middle phalanx, proximal phalanx and the metacarpal head of the third ray were used to examine the pattern of trabecular orientation in Pan, Gorilla, Pongo, Hylobates and Macaca. Several zones, i.e., the proximal ends of both phalanges and the metacarpal heads, were capable of distinguishing between knuckle-walking, quadrupedal, and suspensory primates. Orientation and shape seem to be the primary distinguishing factors but differences in bone volume, isotropy index, and degree of anisotropy were seen across included taxa. Suspensory primates show primarily proximodistal alignment in all zones, and quadrupeds more palmar-dorsal orientation in several zones. Knuckle walkers are characterized by having proximodistal alignment in the proximal ends of the phalanges and a palmar-dorsal alignment in the distal ends and metacarpal heads. These structural differences may be used to infer locmotor propensities of extinct primate taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacey A. Matarazzo
- Anthropology Department, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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36
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Abstract
Humans are unique, compared with our closest living relatives (chimpanzees) and early fossil hominins, in having an enlarged body size and lower limb joint surfaces in combination with a relatively gracile skeleton (i.e., lower bone mass for our body size). Some analyses have observed that in at least a few anatomical regions modern humans today appear to have relatively low trabecular density, but little is known about how that density varies throughout the human skeleton and across species or how and when the present trabecular patterns emerged over the course of human evolution. Here, we test the hypotheses that (i) recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the upper and lower limbs compared with other primate taxa and (ii) the reduction in trabecular density first occurred in early Homo erectus, consistent with the shift toward a modern human locomotor anatomy, or more recently in concert with diaphyseal gracilization in Holocene humans. We used peripheral quantitative CT and microtomography to measure trabecular bone of limb epiphyses (long bone articular ends) in modern humans and chimpanzees and in fossil hominins attributed to Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus/early Homo from Swartkrans, Homo neanderthalensis, and early Homo sapiens. Results show that only recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the limb joints. Extinct hominins, including pre-Holocene Homo sapiens, retain the high levels seen in nonhuman primates. Thus, the low trabecular density of the recent modern human skeleton evolved late in our evolutionary history, potentially resulting from increased sedentism and reliance on technological and cultural innovations.
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37
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Kuo S, Desilva JM, Devlin MJ, Mcdonald G, Morgan EF. The Effect of the Achilles Tendon on Trabecular Structure in the Primate Calcaneus. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2013; 296:1509-17. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.22739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2012] [Revised: 03/13/2013] [Accepted: 05/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Kuo
- Department of Anthropology; Boston University; 232 Bay State Road Boston Massachusetts
- Department of Applied Forensic Sciences; Mercyhurst University; 501 E. 38th Street Erie Pennsylvania
| | - Jeremy M. Desilva
- Department of Anthropology; Boston University; 232 Bay State Road Boston Massachusetts
| | - Maureen J. Devlin
- Department of Anthropology; University of Michigan; 1085 South University Avenue Ann Arbor Michigan
| | - Gabriel Mcdonald
- Department of Mechanical Engineering; Boston University; 110 Cummington Street Boston Massachusetts
| | - Elise F. Morgan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering; Boston University; 110 Cummington Street Boston Massachusetts
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