[ad_1]
(CNN) –
According to a new study, Neanderthals may not have worn barrel bodies and the hunched posture that we see in museums and textbooks.
The first 3D virtual reconstruction of a Neanderthal rib cage revealed that they had straighter spines and a higher lung capacity than modern humans. The findings concerning the Neanderthal, also spelled Neanderthal, were published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
"Neanderthals are closely linked to us by complex cultural adaptations very similar to those of modern humans, but their physical form is very different from ours," said Patricia Kramer, a corresponding author and professor in the Department of Ethics. 39, anthropology of the University of Washington. "Understanding their adaptations allows us to better understand our own path of evolution."
The skeleton, discovered for the first time in 1983 in Kebara Cave in Israel, is considered the most complete remains of Neanderthals to date – though it lacks a skull. In life, the Neanderthal male, known as Kebara 2 or K2, was about 5 1/2 feet tall and weighed 166 pounds. He traveled the Earth 60,000 years ago and died at age 32.
Kebara 2 is one of the many Neanderthal remains recovered from this cave.
Spanish, Israeli and American researchers collaborated on the study. "Three continents, three languages, a fascination for how the world worked for our common ancestors," said Kramer.
The international team of researchers used K2 fossil CT scanners to recreate a 3D model of the chest and focused on chest reconstruction. The thorax includes the rib cage and upper spine, forming a cavity that houses the lungs and heart.
These rare Neanderthal bones are usually fragile and it is easier and less risky to assemble them with the help of a virtual method.
"The shape of the thorax is essential to understand the behavior of Neanderthals in their environment, as it informs us about their breathing and their balance," said Asier Gomez-Olivencia, lead author of the Ikerbasque study and scholar of the ### 39, University of the Basque Country.
Neanderthal's thorax has in fact been debated by scientists for years because of the stereotypical conception of "hidden cavemen" based on studies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The researchers used 3D scientific software, medical skeletal analyzes and direct observations of the K2 skeleton, currently at Tel Aviv University, to reconstruct their old puzzle.
"It was meticulous work," said Alon Barash, co-author of the study and lecturer at the Israeli Bar Ilan University. "We had to scan each vertebra and all the rib fragments individually, then reassemble them in 3D."
They also compared bone medical scanners with those of modern adult men.
The completed puzzle revealed that the Neanderthal ribs were connecting to the spine more inward, forcing the chest cavity and tilting it backwards. The result is a spine that lacks the lumbar curve of modern man.
"I'm really curious about how the straightness of Neanderthal's lower back, combined with the shape of the ribcage, has an impact on the forces of the spine and pelvis," said Kramer. "Modern humans and other hominins that preserve this region have a lumbar curve but not Neanderthals.Why? As a structural engineer and functional morphologist, these behavioral form issues fascinate me."
The researchers described this difference as "striking". This skeletal structure not only provided more stability to Neanderthals, but also resulted in a larger diaphragm and increased lung capacity.
"The broad lower Neanderthals and the horizontal orientation of the ribs suggest that Neandertals rely more on their diaphragm to breathe," said Ella Been, co-author of the study and a physiotherapist at Ono Academic College. "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 have no reason to think that this is specific to the Neanderthal skeleton that they studied because these traits are shared by other Neanderthal bones analyzed.
But this opens new questions as to why the Neanderthals had such a different skeletal structure. They may have needed greater lung capacity to survive climate change, support their significant body mass, and support a rough hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
"The study that interests me the most is what this difference in body shape represents for the movement of Neanderthals in their world," Kramer said. "Mobility is a fundamental aspect of an individual's life, as anyone who has ever been injured in the lower body or limbs has known, so I can not help but wonder why this information is will learn how they walk, carry their things and babies, how their groups went for food and who they were part of, and where they could have traveled. "
The 3D modeling used in the study could open this field of research. If Kramer could apply it to any fossil, she would like to virtually rebuild the famous Lucy fossil.
"Having virtual reconstruction allows us to do all kinds of new computer models," Kramer said. "For me, the most exciting element is to think about the impact of a different form body on mobility. With computer models, we can start to" resuscitate "them to see how they moved on the hills, or how the burdens affected their movements. "
Copyright 2018 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
Source link
