0000000000068652
AUTHOR
Juan Manuel Jiménez-arenas
Sexual dimorphism in the vertebral wedging of the human lumbar vertebrae and its importance as a comparative framework for understanding the wedging pattern of Neanderthals
Lumbar lordosis is a key element of the upright posture, being interpreted as a consequence of bipedal locomotion. There is consensus that the generic modern human pattern of metameric vertebral body wedging is sexually dimorphic in modern humans. However, recently published studies have compared this pattern with other hominins, such as Neanderthals. These tried to establish whether the (male) Neanderthal lumbar vertebrae express a pattern that falls within or outside the range of modern human males. In the present study, data collected by 3D landmarks of the lumbar vertebrae of modern humans from different geographic regions and Neanderthals (Ntotal = 505 individual vertebrae) are used to…
Coping with arid environments: A critical threshold for human expansion in Europe at the Marine Isotope Stage 12/11 transition? The case of the Iberian Peninsula.
Abstract Archaeological remains have highlighted the fact that the interglacial Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 was a threshold from the perspective of hominin evolution in Europe. After the MIS 12 glaciation, considered one of the major climate-driven crises experienced by hominins, the archaeological records show an increasing number of occupations, evidence of new subsistence behaviors, and significant technical innovations. Here, we used statistical and geographic techniques to analyze the amphibian- and reptile-based paleoclimate and habitat reconstructions generated from a large data set of the Iberian Peninsula to (1) investigate if temperature, precipitation, and/or forest cover may h…