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Neanderthal thorax (blue) compared to modern human thorax (gray)Gomez-Olivencia, A et al (2018) Nature Communications 9, Item Number: 4387 (2018)
Neanderthals were an archaic human species that lived in Eurasia between 450,000 and 45,000 years ago. We share not only a common ancestor with the Neanderthals, but about 2% of the genomes of modern Eurasian humans are made up of Neanderthal DNA.
The remains of Neanderthals were first discovered 150 years ago in the Neander Valley, in present-day Germany. Although other remains have since been discovered, our understanding of the morphology of the complete Neanderthal skeleton has remained incomplete. In particular, for a century and a half, the exact shape and dimensions of a typical Neanderthal chest (the rib cage, sternum and upper spine) have been the subject of much debate.
Understanding the structure of the Neanderthal bad is important because it can tell us a lot about our former parents.
"The shape of the thorax is essential to understand the movements of Neanderthals in their environment, because it informs us about their breathing and their balance," says Asier Gómez-Olivencia, paleontologist at the University of the Basque Country in Spain.
Patricia Kramer, an anthropologist at the University of Washington in the United States, adds that the way Neanderthals moved would have had a direct impact on their ability to access resources and thus survive.
Until now, researchers have only been able to formulate informed hypotheses based on the available remains. Some researchers have proposed that Neanderthal torsos are identical to those of modern humans, while others have proposed a more pronounced form of the bad.
Two years ago, Gómez-Olivencia and Kramer, together with an international team of researchers, used the remains of a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal male to create a virtual 3D reconstruction of the spine. Neanderthal. Their findings corroborated the theory that Neanderthals had a upright posture and even suggested that Neanderthals had a spine straighter than modern humans.
Today, with the help of medical tomodensitometry (CT scans) of vertebrae, ribs and pelvic bones of the same skeleton, the team has expanded its work to create the first virtual reconstruction in the world. 3D of a Neanderthal thorax.
Neanderthal thorax reconstructed. The blue color highlights the ribs and sternum.Gomez-Olivencia, A et al (2018) Nature Communications 9, Item Number: 4387
"It was a meticulous job," said Alon Barash of Bar Ilan University in Israel, who collaborated on the project. "We had to scan each vertebra and all the rib fragments individually, then rebademble them in 3D."
They also compared the results obtained with CT scans in modern men of a size similar to the Neanderthal fossil.
They found that the Neanderthal thorax was not larger in volume than modern humans, but had significant structural differences. On the one hand, it was wider at the bottom than the modern human thorax. This suggests a slightly different respiratory mechanism than the one we used because it would have provided greater breathing capacity during inspiration (inspiration).
Comparison of the Neanderthal thorax (left column) with the modern human sample (in gray, middle column) and superposition of the two (right column)Gomez-Olivencia, A et al (2018) Nature Communications 9, Item Number: 4387 (2018)
Principal author Ella Been of Ono Academic College in Israel explains: "The broad, lower Neanderthalian thorax and the horizontal orientation of the ribs suggest that they are more supportive of their diaphragm to breathe."
"Modern humans, for their part, depend on both the diaphragm and the extension of the rib cage to breathe.We see here how new technologies in the study of fossil remains provide new information to understand the extinct species. "
The researchers also found that the Neanderthal ribs connected the vertebral column inward, which means that the spine was slightly more recessed in the chest cavity than ours.
"The Neanderthal spine is located deeper in the thorax, which provides more stability," said Gómez-Olivencia.
This would have forced the chest cavity to become more outward, causing a slight inclination of the spine towards the back. The result was a more upright spine. Neanderthals, it seems, did not have a lumbar curve as large as that of modern humans.
Taken together, the findings provide new insights into the evolutionary history of Neanderthals and, by extension, provide a more detailed insight into our own past.
"Neanderthals are closely linked to us by complex cultural adaptations very similar to those of modern humans, but their physical form is significantly different from us," says Kramer.
"Understanding their adaptations allows us to better understand our own path of evolution."
The results were published in Nature Communications.
Original search:
Gómez-Olivencia, A (2018) Virtual 3D reconstruction of the Kebara 2 Neanderthal thorax. Nature Communications 9
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Neanderthal thorax (blue) compared to modern human thorax (gray)Gomez-Olivencia, A et al (2018) Nature Communications 9, Item Number: 4387 (2018)
Neanderthals were an archaic human species that lived in Eurasia between 450,000 and 45,000 years ago. We share not only a common ancestor with the Neanderthals, but about 2% of the genomes of modern Eurasian humans are made up of Neanderthal DNA.
The remains of Neanderthals were first discovered 150 years ago in the Neander Valley, in present-day Germany. Although other remains have since been discovered, our understanding of the morphology of the complete Neanderthal skeleton has remained incomplete. In particular, for a century and a half, the exact shape and dimensions of a typical Neanderthal chest (the rib cage, sternum and upper spine) have been the subject of much debate.
Understanding the structure of the Neanderthal bad is important because it can tell us a lot about our former parents.
"The shape of the thorax is essential to understand the movements of Neanderthals in their environment, because it informs us about their breathing and their balance," says Asier Gómez-Olivencia, paleontologist at the University of the Basque Country in Spain.
Patricia Kramer, an anthropologist at the University of Washington in the United States, adds that the way Neanderthals moved would have had a direct impact on their ability to access resources and thus survive.
Until now, researchers have only been able to formulate informed hypotheses based on the available remains. Some researchers have proposed that Neanderthal torsos are identical to those of modern humans, while others have proposed a more pronounced form of the bad.
Two years ago, Gómez-Olivencia and Kramer, together with an international team of researchers, used the remains of a 60,000-year-old Neanderthal male to create a virtual 3D reconstruction of the spine. Neanderthal. Their findings corroborated the theory that Neanderthals had a upright posture and even suggested that Neanderthals had a spine straighter than modern humans.
Today, with the help of medical tomodensitometry (CT scans) of vertebrae, ribs and pelvic bones of the same skeleton, the team has expanded its work to create the first virtual reconstruction in the world. 3D of a Neanderthal thorax.
Neanderthal thorax reconstructed. The blue color highlights the ribs and sternum.Gomez-Olivencia, A et al (2018) Nature Communications 9, Item Number: 4387
"It was a meticulous job," said Alon Barash of Bar Ilan University in Israel, who collaborated on the project. "We had to scan each vertebra and all the rib fragments individually, then rebademble them in 3D."
They also compared the results obtained with CT scans in modern men of a size similar to the Neanderthal fossil.
They found that the Neanderthal thorax was not larger in volume than modern humans, but had significant structural differences. On the one hand, it was wider at the bottom than the modern human thorax. This suggests a slightly different respiratory mechanism than the one we used because it would have provided greater breathing capacity during inspiration (inspiration).
Comparison of the Neanderthal thorax (left column) with the modern human sample (in gray, middle column) and superposition of the two (right column)Gomez-Olivencia, A et al (2018) Nature Communications 9, Item Number: 4387 (2018)
Principal author Ella Been of Ono Academic College in Israel explains: "The broad, lower Neanderthalian thorax and the horizontal orientation of the ribs suggest that they are more supportive of their diaphragm to breathe."
"Modern humans, for their part, depend on both the diaphragm and the extension of the rib cage to breathe.We see here how new technologies in the study of fossil remains provide new information to understand the extinct species. "
The researchers also found that the Neanderthal ribs connected the vertebral column inward, which means that the spine was slightly more recessed in the chest cavity than ours.
"The Neanderthal spine is located deeper in the thorax, which provides more stability," said Gómez-Olivencia.
This would have forced the chest cavity to become more outward, causing a slight inclination of the spine towards the back. The result was a more upright spine. Neanderthals, it seems, did not have a lumbar curve as large as that of modern humans.
Taken together, the findings provide new insights into the evolutionary history of Neanderthals and, by extension, provide a more detailed insight into our own past.
"Neanderthals are closely linked to us by complex cultural adaptations very similar to those of modern humans, but their physical form is significantly different from us," says Kramer.
"Understanding their adaptations allows us to better understand our own path of evolution."
The results were published in Nature Communications.
Original search:
Gómez-Olivencia, A (2018) Virtual 3D reconstruction of the Kebara 2 Neanderthal thorax. Nature Communications 9
