Human Anatomy (Biological Anthropology)

3D Analysis of the Forearm Rotational Efficiency Variation in Humans

by Pere Ibáñez-Gimeno

Frecuencia y distribución de tabiques intrasinusales en el piso del seno maxilar.

by Rodrigo Hernández Quezada

Seno maxilar, tabiques.

Estudio de frecuencia y distribución de tabiques en el piso del seno maxilar según grado de desdentamiento. Estudio de frecuencia y distribución de tabiques en el piso del seno maxilar según grado de desdentamiento.

Sex estimation using the mastoid process: Variation in sexual dimorphism between populations

by Amanda G. Kittoe

This study assesses sexual dimorphism of the mastoid process in samples of African-Americans (AA) and... more This study assesses sexual dimorphism of the mastoid process in samples of African-Americans (AA) and European-Americans (EA). The mastoid process is a classically used indicator of sexual dimorphism in the area of bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology. Variation in size and shape of cranial elements, including the mastoid process, has been found to differ significantly between populations. This study uses a sample of 55 AA females, 50 AA males, 49 EA females, and 49 EA males from the Hamann-Todd Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the WM Bass Donated Collection at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Three measurements were taken on the mastoid process: height, width, and thickness. Results show that both AA and EA display sexual dimorphism in mastoid height and width, with males being larger. AA males have significantly thicker mastoids than AA females, but EA males and females do not differ significantly. In both groups, mastoid width is the most dimorphic trait among the three measures. AA males are not significantly different than EA males in any of the three traits, but EA females have significantly thicker mastoids than AA females, whereas AA females have significantly wider mastoids than EA females. However, these two groups do not differ in the other two traits. These findings highlight the importance of considering population based differences when assessing for sex.

Poster: Sex estimation using the mastoid process: Variation in sexual dimorphism between populations

by Amanda G. Kittoe

Covariation in limb-limb and limb-trunk proportions in Whites and Blacks and Males in Females using the Hamann-Todd Collection, Cleveland Museum of Natural History

by Amanda G. Kittoe

Published in 'Discussions,' Case Western Reserve University, 2009

This study assesses the reliability of regression formulae used to estimate human stature. Positive correlations exist... more This study assesses the reliability of regression formulae used to estimate human stature. Positive correlations exist between the length of each long bone and a person’s height. In the 1950’s, Trotter and Gleser formulated regression equations between each long bone and the known heights of individuals in a sample from the Terry Collection and the Korean War Dead. The authors found that different ancestral populations require different formulae. This study uses a sample of 126 individuals from the Hamman-Todd Collection, a contemporary sample to the Terry Collection. The current study expects to yield the same results. Lengths of each long bone (femur, tibia, fibula, humerus, ulna and radius) and maximum anterior vertebral heights (thoracic and lumbar) were measured to represent limb and torso lengths, respectively. The t-test was used to compare the limb-stature and torso-stature proportions between males and females and whites and blacks. The t-test was also used to compare Trotter and Gleser’s estimated statures to known stature. Men have significantly longer arms relative to stature than females, in both the arm and forearm. Whites have significantly longer torsos relative to stature than blacks, whereas blacks have significantly longer forearms (ulna) and lower limbs (femur and fibula) relative to stature than whites. Significant differences between estimated and known statures were only found among blacks, especially black females. These results highlight Allen’s rule and are consistent with previous studies which find that blacks and whites have different limb-stature proportions, and thus result in different regression equations for stature estimation.

Patella measurements of South African whites as sex assessors

by Kevin Kuykendall

Stature estimation from bones of South African whites

by Kevin Kuykendall

The history and composition of the Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

by Kevin Kuykendall

The mesosternum of the Regourdou 1 Neandertal revisited

by Asier Gómez Olivencia

Gómez-Olivencia, A., Franciscus, R.G., Couture-Veschambre, Maureille, B., Arsuaga, J.L. 2012. The mesosternum of the Regourdou1 Neandertal revisited. Journal of Human Evolution, 62: 511-519.

Fossil hominin mesosterna, while scarce, can provide useful morphological data in addition to rib remains regarding... more Fossil hominin mesosterna, while scarce, can provide useful morphological data in addition to rib remains regarding aspects of thoracic size and shape. These data, in turn, can address hypotheses related to respiratory dynamics, climatic adaptation, and ecogeographical patterning. In this study, we re-evaluate the anatomical representation of the mesosternum of the Regourdou 1 Neandertal individual that alters key aspects of the original description of the fossil remains. We compare this specimen together with the mesosterna of the Kebara 2 Neandertal male individual and the Tabun C1 Neandertal female individual to a large extant modern comparative sample. Our study shows that the current evidence available for Neandertals indicates longer mesosterna reflecting larger thorax sizes among Neandertals in comparison to extant humans. Additionally, while this study weakens previous suggestions of ecogeographically mediated differences in the size and shape of upper thorax between Neandertals from the Mediterranean Levant and those deriving from Western Europe, we cannot unambiguously disprove the notion of such clinal differences.

A Reanalysis of Anatomical Changes for Language

by Richard Littauer

Laryngeal air sacs occur in many different species of primates. In the case of Homo sapiens, their presence has been... more Laryngeal air sacs occur in many different species of primates. In the case of Homo sapiens, their presence has been lost. This has been argued to have occurred before Homo heidelbergensis, due to a loss of the bulla in the hyoid bone from Australopithecus afarensis (Martinez, 2008), at a range of 500kya to 3.3mya. (de Boer, to appear). Justifications for the loss of laryngeal air sacs include infection, the ability to modify breathing patterns and the reduction of a need for an anti-hyperventilating device (Hewitt et al, 2002), and linguistic selection against air sacs as they are disadvantageous for subtle, timed, and distinct sounds. (de Boer, to appear). Further, it has been suggested that the loss goes against the significant correlation of air sac retention to evolutionary growth in body mass (Hewitt et al., 2002). I argue that the loss of air sacs may have occurred more recently than 3.3mya, as the loss of the bulla in the hyoid does not exclude the possibility of airs sacs, as laryngeal air sacs can herniate between two muscles regularly in other species (Frey et al., 2007), and as vestigial air sacs in Homo sapiens indicate a shorter evolutionary timescale. Further, I argue that Homo sapiens was not an exception to the smaller body weight and loss correlation, as a size reduction in Homo sapiens from Homo heidelbergensis was not accounted for in the previous synchronic study. It is hoped that these arguments will shed light on the anatomical pre-adaptations or adaptations for language use in hominins.

Powers N, Fowler L and Walker D, ‘Patients, anatomists and resurrection men: archaeological evidence for anatomy teaching at the London Hospital’, Anatomical dissection, autopsy and medical pathology museums in Britain from 1700, symposium at the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolution, Cambridge

by Natasha Powers

in press

ODONTOGLIFIA EN UNA POBLACIÓN PREHISPÁNICA DE TRADICIÓN CULTURAL SONSO UBICADA EN YUMBO, VALLE DEL CAUCA, COLOMBIA (Spanish)

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

Forensic method to determine gender in sub adult subjects using odontometrics in the deciduous dentition

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

Dental non-metric traits in a Pre-Conquest sample “Calchaquí” from Argentina, South America

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

Dental Nonmetric Traits in a Pre-Conquest Sample from Chubut Region of Patagonia, Argentina

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

Asimetría bilateral del desgaste oclusal en dentición permanente y su relación con la paleodieta en una sociedad prehispánica de tradición cultural Sonso en …

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

Morfología dental en cráneos Toba de Argentina

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

Brief Communication: Occurrence of an Eighth Cusp on Primary Second Mandibular Molars of a Contemporary Argentinean Child

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

Dental Non-Metric Traits in a Preconquest Sample from Tastil Region in Argentina, South America

by Carlos David Rodriguez Florez

The study of anatomy in England from 1700 to the early 20th century

by Don Walker

Co-authored with Piers D. Mitchell, Ceridwen Boston, Andrew T. Chamberlain, Simon Chaplin, Vin Chauhan, Jonathan Evans, Louise Fowler, Natasha Powers, Helen Webb and Annsofie Witkin

The study of anatomy in England during the 18th and 19th century has become infamous for bodysnatching from graveyards... more The study of anatomy in England during the 18th and 19th century has become infamous for bodysnatching from graveyards to provide a sufficient supply of cadavers. However, recent discoveries have improved our understanding of how and why anatomy was studied during the enlightenment, and allow us to see the context in which dissection of the human body took place. Excavations of infirmary burial grounds and medical school cemeteries, study of hospital archives, and analysis of the content of surviving anatomical collections in medical museums enables us to re-evaluate the field from a fresh perspective. The pathway from a death in poverty, sale of the corpse to body dealer, dissection by anatomist or medical student, and either the disposal and burial of the remains or preservation of teaching specimens that survive today in medical museums is a complex and fascinating one.