RT Journal Article
T1 Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape
A1 Bastir, Markus
A1 García Martínez, Daniel
A1 Torres-Tamayo, Nicole
A1 Palancar, Carlos
A1 Beyer, Benoît
A1 Barash, Alon
A1 Villa, Chiara
A1 Sanchis-Gimeno, Juan Alberto
A1 Riesco-López, Alberto
A1 Nalla, Shahed
A1 Torres-Sánchez, Isabel
A1 García-Río, Francisco
A1 Been, Ella
A1 Gómez-Olivencia, Asier
A1 Haeusler, Martin
A1 Williams, Scott
A1 Spoor, Fred
A2 Goymer, Patrick
AB The tall and narrow body shape of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved via changes in the thorax, pelvis and limbs. It is debated, however, whether these modifications first evolved together in African Homo erectus, or whether H. erectus had a more primitive body shape that was distinct from both the more ape-like Australopithecus species and H. sapiens. Here we present the first quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction of the thorax of the juvenile H. erectus skeleton, KNM-WT 15000, from Nariokotome, Kenya, along with its estimated adult rib cage, for comparison with H. sapiens and the Kebara 2 Neanderthal. Our three-dimensional reconstruction demonstrates a short, mediolaterally wide and anteroposteriorly deep thorax in KNM-WT 15000 that differs considerably from the much shallower thorax of H. sapiens, pointing to a recent evolutionary origin of fully modern human body shape. The large respiratory capacity of KNM-WT 15000 is compatible with the relatively stocky, more primitive, body shape of H. erectus.
PB Springer
SN 2397-334X
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/100859
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/100859
LA eng
NO Bastir, M., García-Martínez, D., Torres-Tamayo, N., Palancar, C. A., Beyer, B., Barash, A., ... & Spoor, F. (2020). Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape. Nature ecology & evolution, 4(9), 1178-1187.
NO This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (no. CGL 2015-63648-P) to M.B. D.G.-M. was funded by IdEx University of Bordeaux Investments for the Future programme (no. ANR-10-IDEX-03-02) and the European Commission’s Research Infrastructure Action via the Synthesys Projects (nos. SE-TAF-6406, DE-TAF-6404, BE-TAF-5639). Financial support for M.H. was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation (no. 31003A_176319/1) and the Mäxi Foundation. A.G.-O. received support from the Spanish FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación-AEI (project no. PGC2018-093925-B-C33) and Research Group (no. IT1418-19) from Eusko Jaurlaritza-Gobierno Vasco. A.G.-O. is funded by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (no. RYC-2017-22558).
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
NO University of Bordeaux
NO European Commission
NO Swiss National Science Foundation
NO Mäxi Foundation
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO Eusko Jaurlaritza
DS Docta Complutense
RD 11 abr 2025