Abstract:
:As early as the 1970s, Robinson defined lumbar vertebrae according to their zygapophyseal orientation. He identified six lumbar elements in fossil Sts 14 Australopithecus africanus, one more than is commonly present in modern humans. It is now generally inferred that the modal number of lumbar vertebrae for australopiths and early Homo was six, from which the mode of five in later Homo is derived. The two central questions this study investigates are (1) to what extent do differences in human lumbar vertebral count affect lordotic shape and lumbar function, and (2) what does lumbar number variation imply about lumbar spine function in early hominins? To address these questions, I first outline a biomechanical model of lumbar number effect on lordotic function. I then identify relevant morphological differences in the human modal and extra-modal variants, which I use to test the model. These tests permit evaluation of the human L6 variant as a model for reconstructing early hominin modal number and spine function. Application of the biomechanical model in reconstructing australopith/early Homo lumbar spines highlights shared principles of Euler column strength and sagittal spine flexibility among early and modern hominins. Within modern humans, the extra-modal L6 variant has an extended series of three cranially positioned kyphotic vertebrae and strongly oblique zygapophyseal facets at the last lumbar level. Although they share the same radius and length of lumbar curvature, the L6 variant differs functionally from the L5 mode in its expanded range of sagittal flexion/extension and enhanced resistance to shear. Given the modal number of six lumbar vertebrae in australopiths and early Homo, lumbar spine mobility and strength would have been key properties of vertebral function in early bipeds whose upper and lower body segments were coupled by close approximation of the thorax and iliac crests.
journal_name
J Hum Evoljournal_title
Journal of human evolutionauthors
Whitcome KKdoi
10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.01.008subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2012-04-01 00:00:00pages
486-97issue
4eissn
0047-2484issn
1095-8606pii
S0047-2484(12)00021-8journal_volume
62pub_type
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journal_title:Journal of human evolution
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pub_type: 杂志文章,评审
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journal_title:Journal of human evolution
pub_type: 杂志文章,评审
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journal_title:Journal of human evolution
pub_type: 历史文章,杂志文章
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journal_title:Journal of human evolution
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abstract::Australopithecus anamensis, among the earliest fully bipedal hominin species, lived in eastern Africa around 4 Ma. Much of what is currently known about the paleoecology of A. anamensis comes from the type locality, Kanapoi, Kenya. Here, we extend knowledge of the range of environments occupied by A. anamensis by pres...
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