New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back
Adaptations of the lower back to bipedalism are frequently discussed but infrequently demonstrated in early fossil hominins. Newly discovered lumbar vertebrae contribute to a near-complete lower back of Malapa Hominin 2 (MH2), offering additional insights into posture and locomotion in Australopithe...
Guardado en:
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2021
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/24f733bf10474bf1a1ac25d8b7928f3a |
| Etiquetas: |
Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
|
| id |
oai:doaj.org-article:24f733bf10474bf1a1ac25d8b7928f3a |
|---|---|
| record_format |
dspace |
| spelling |
oai:doaj.org-article:24f733bf10474bf1a1ac25d8b7928f3a2021-11-23T12:30:47ZNew fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back10.7554/eLife.704472050-084Xe70447https://doaj.org/article/24f733bf10474bf1a1ac25d8b7928f3a2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://elifesciences.org/articles/70447https://doaj.org/toc/2050-084XAdaptations of the lower back to bipedalism are frequently discussed but infrequently demonstrated in early fossil hominins. Newly discovered lumbar vertebrae contribute to a near-complete lower back of Malapa Hominin 2 (MH2), offering additional insights into posture and locomotion in Australopithecus sediba. We show that MH2 possessed a lower back consistent with lumbar lordosis and other adaptations to bipedalism, including an increase in the width of intervertebral articular facets from the upper to lower lumbar column (‘pyramidal configuration’). These results contrast with some recent work on lordosis in fossil hominins, where MH2 was argued to demonstrate no appreciable lordosis (‘hypolordosis’) similar to Neandertals. Our three-dimensional geometric morphometric (3D GM) analyses show that MH2’s nearly complete middle lumbar vertebra is human-like in overall shape but its vertebral body is somewhat intermediate in shape between modern humans and great apes. Additionally, it bears long, cranially and ventrally oriented costal (transverse) processes, implying powerful trunk musculature. We interpret this combination of features to indicate that A. sediba used its lower back in both bipedal and arboreal positional behaviors, as previously suggested based on multiple lines of evidence from other parts of the skeleton and reconstructed paleobiology of A. sediba.Scott A WilliamsThomas Cody PrangMarc R MeyerThierra K NalleyRenier Van Der MerweChristopher YelvertonDaniel García-MartínezGabrielle A RussoKelly R OstrofskyJeffrey SpearJennifer EyreMark GrabowskiShahed NallaMarkus BastirPeter SchmidSteven E ChurchillLee R BergereLife Sciences Publications Ltdarticlepaleoanthropologyhuman evolutionbipedalismvertebral columnlordosisupright postureMedicineRScienceQBiology (General)QH301-705.5ENeLife, Vol 10 (2021) |
| institution |
DOAJ |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
EN |
| topic |
paleoanthropology human evolution bipedalism vertebral column lordosis upright posture Medicine R Science Q Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
| spellingShingle |
paleoanthropology human evolution bipedalism vertebral column lordosis upright posture Medicine R Science Q Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Scott A Williams Thomas Cody Prang Marc R Meyer Thierra K Nalley Renier Van Der Merwe Christopher Yelverton Daniel García-Martínez Gabrielle A Russo Kelly R Ostrofsky Jeffrey Spear Jennifer Eyre Mark Grabowski Shahed Nalla Markus Bastir Peter Schmid Steven E Churchill Lee R Berger New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back |
| description |
Adaptations of the lower back to bipedalism are frequently discussed but infrequently demonstrated in early fossil hominins. Newly discovered lumbar vertebrae contribute to a near-complete lower back of Malapa Hominin 2 (MH2), offering additional insights into posture and locomotion in Australopithecus sediba. We show that MH2 possessed a lower back consistent with lumbar lordosis and other adaptations to bipedalism, including an increase in the width of intervertebral articular facets from the upper to lower lumbar column (‘pyramidal configuration’). These results contrast with some recent work on lordosis in fossil hominins, where MH2 was argued to demonstrate no appreciable lordosis (‘hypolordosis’) similar to Neandertals. Our three-dimensional geometric morphometric (3D GM) analyses show that MH2’s nearly complete middle lumbar vertebra is human-like in overall shape but its vertebral body is somewhat intermediate in shape between modern humans and great apes. Additionally, it bears long, cranially and ventrally oriented costal (transverse) processes, implying powerful trunk musculature. We interpret this combination of features to indicate that A. sediba used its lower back in both bipedal and arboreal positional behaviors, as previously suggested based on multiple lines of evidence from other parts of the skeleton and reconstructed paleobiology of A. sediba. |
| format |
article |
| author |
Scott A Williams Thomas Cody Prang Marc R Meyer Thierra K Nalley Renier Van Der Merwe Christopher Yelverton Daniel García-Martínez Gabrielle A Russo Kelly R Ostrofsky Jeffrey Spear Jennifer Eyre Mark Grabowski Shahed Nalla Markus Bastir Peter Schmid Steven E Churchill Lee R Berger |
| author_facet |
Scott A Williams Thomas Cody Prang Marc R Meyer Thierra K Nalley Renier Van Der Merwe Christopher Yelverton Daniel García-Martínez Gabrielle A Russo Kelly R Ostrofsky Jeffrey Spear Jennifer Eyre Mark Grabowski Shahed Nalla Markus Bastir Peter Schmid Steven E Churchill Lee R Berger |
| author_sort |
Scott A Williams |
| title |
New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back |
| title_short |
New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back |
| title_full |
New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back |
| title_fullStr |
New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back |
| title_full_unstemmed |
New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back |
| title_sort |
new fossils of australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back |
| publisher |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| url |
https://doaj.org/article/24f733bf10474bf1a1ac25d8b7928f3a |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT scottawilliams newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT thomascodyprang newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT marcrmeyer newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT thierraknalley newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT reniervandermerwe newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT christopheryelverton newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT danielgarciamartinez newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT gabriellearusso newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT kellyrostrofsky newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT jeffreyspear newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT jennifereyre newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT markgrabowski newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT shahednalla newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT markusbastir newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT peterschmid newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT stevenechurchill newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback AT leerberger newfossilsofaustralopithecussedibarevealanearlycompletelowerback |
| _version_ |
1718416752434479104 |