0000000000068659
AUTHOR
Stephanie Lois-zlolniski
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…
Association between ribs shape and pulmonary function in patients with Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Graphical abstract
Geometric Morphometric Studies in the Human Spine
This chapter overviews the theoretical basics of geometric morphometrics (GM) and reviews its potential for the study of hominin vertebrae and vertebral columns. We show that challenges are related to seriality and the metameric nature of the spine. Measuring a series of vertebrae is a time-consuming process because the necessary sample sizes need to be multiplied by the number of vertebrae composing the spine or its anatomical parts. This is particularly true when measuring 3D semilandmarks of curves and surfaces in virtual anthropology. The lack of independence among vertebral series of a skeleton and the complex conceptual relation between the shape of vertebrae (parts) and the effect of…