TY - JOUR
T1 - Functional morphology of the first cervical vertebra in humans and nonhuman primates
AU - Bookstein, Fred
AU - Mitteröcker, Philipp
AU - Manfreda, E
AU - Mitteröcker, Philipp
AU - Schäfer, Katrin
N1 - Zeitschrift: Anatomical Record - Part B New Anatomist
DOI: 10.1002/ar.b.20113
Coden: ARPBF
Affiliations: Medical Faculty, University of Dresden; Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department of Statistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States; Department of Anthropology; Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1091 Vienna, Austria
Adressen: Mitteroecker, P.; Department of Anthropology; University of Vienna; Althanstrasse 14 1091 Vienna, Austria; email: [email protected]
Import aus Scopus: 2-s2.0-33748948905
09.08.2007: Datenanforderung 1810 (Import Sachbearbeiter)
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - The cervical vertebral column bears or balances the weight of the head supported by the nuchal muscles that partly originate from the cervical vertebrae. The position of the head relative to the vertebral column, and consequently locomotion and posture behavior, could thus be associated with the form of the cervical vertebrae. In spite of this assumption and some empirical indications along these lines, primate vertebral morphologies have been reported to be very similar and not clearly related to locomotion. We therefore study the relationship between the morphology of the first cervical vertebra, the atlas, and the locomotion pattern within primates using a geometric morphometric approach. Our analysis is based on a total of 116 vertebrae of adult Homo sapiens, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus, Hylobates lar, Macaca mulatta, Papio hamadryas, Ateles geoffroyi, and Alouatta palliata. On each atlas, 56 landmarks were digitized and superimposed by Procrustes registration. The resulting shape variables were analyzed by principal component analysis, multivariate regression, and partial least-squares analysis. We found that the nine primate species differ clearly in their atlas morphology and that allometric shape change is distinct between the nonhuman primates and Homo sapiens. We could further identify morphological features that relate to the species' locomotion pattern. Human atlas shape, however, cannot be predicted by an extrapolation of the nonhuman primate model. This implies that either the primate atlas is generalized enough to allow bipedal locomotion or else the human atlas morphology is a unique adaptation different from that in the more orthograde nonhuman primates. Œ 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
AB - The cervical vertebral column bears or balances the weight of the head supported by the nuchal muscles that partly originate from the cervical vertebrae. The position of the head relative to the vertebral column, and consequently locomotion and posture behavior, could thus be associated with the form of the cervical vertebrae. In spite of this assumption and some empirical indications along these lines, primate vertebral morphologies have been reported to be very similar and not clearly related to locomotion. We therefore study the relationship between the morphology of the first cervical vertebra, the atlas, and the locomotion pattern within primates using a geometric morphometric approach. Our analysis is based on a total of 116 vertebrae of adult Homo sapiens, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus, Hylobates lar, Macaca mulatta, Papio hamadryas, Ateles geoffroyi, and Alouatta palliata. On each atlas, 56 landmarks were digitized and superimposed by Procrustes registration. The resulting shape variables were analyzed by principal component analysis, multivariate regression, and partial least-squares analysis. We found that the nine primate species differ clearly in their atlas morphology and that allometric shape change is distinct between the nonhuman primates and Homo sapiens. We could further identify morphological features that relate to the species' locomotion pattern. Human atlas shape, however, cannot be predicted by an extrapolation of the nonhuman primate model. This implies that either the primate atlas is generalized enough to allow bipedal locomotion or else the human atlas morphology is a unique adaptation different from that in the more orthograde nonhuman primates. Œ 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
M3 - Article
SN - 1552-4906
VL - 289
SP - 184
EP - 194
JO - The Anatomical Record. Part B: The New Anatomist
JF - The Anatomical Record. Part B: The New Anatomist
IS - 5
ER -