Work

The hominid ilium is shaped by a synapomorphic growth mechanism that is unique within primates

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: The human ilium is significantly shorter and broader than those of all other primates. In addition, it exhibits an anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS) that emerges via a secondary center of ossification, which is unique to hominids (i.e., all taxa related to the human clade following their phyletic separation from the African apes). Here, we track the ontogeny of human and other primate ossa coxae. The human pattern is unique, from anlage to adulthood, and fusion of its AIIS is the capstone event in a repositioning of the anterior gluteals that maximizes control of pelvic drop during upright walking. It is therefore a hominid synapomorphy that can be used to assess the presence and age of bipedal locomotion in extinct taxa.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1905242116

Authors: Dexter Zirkle, C. Owen Lovejoy

Institution: Kent State University

Language: English

Topic: Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Subfield: Anthropology

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Kent State University

OpenAlex ID: W2953530488

FWCI: 8.015

Cites: 52

Cited by: 18

Related to: 10