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Triangulating the evolution of the vertebral column in the last common ancestor: thoracolumbar transverse process homology in the Hominoidea

Rosenman, Burt
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1209155043

Abstract Details

2008, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / School of Biomedical Sciences.
The primate vertebral skeleton has been studied intensively by morphologists for more than a century and has become a focal point of investigation in biological anthropology. However, several issues regarding vertebral homology and anatomy remain controversial. I collected metric and non-metric data on 392 cercopithecine and hominoid spines to answer the following questions: First, what is the homology of the lumbar transverse process (LTP) in catarrhines? Second, how many lumbar vertebrae do early hominids possess? Third, how do last rib length, LTP width, and sacral width covary in catarrhines? Methods included data collection by caliper measurement as well as statistical tests such as ANCOVA. I conclude that all catarrhine primates share a similar LTP homology, in which the LTP is composed of a rib element ventrally and derivative of the thoracic transverse process dorsally. Based on these findings, I show that the early hominid specimens Sts 14 and Stw 431 possessed a minimum of six functional lumbar vertebrae. In the metric comparisons, I find that humans have relatively short last ribs; that, in addition to their relatively narrow sacra, the African apes have narrow penultimate and ultimate lumbar vertebrae; and that the early hominids Sts 14 and AL 288-1 have the relatively widest LTPs and sacra of the taxa studied. Incorporating all these data, I present a model of hominoid lumbar vertebral evolution in which each of the great apes has independently evolved a short lumbar spine of three to four segments. Therefore, the long lumbar column of early hominids was most likely a primitive retention, and it is not derived as is commonly assumed.
C. Owen Lovejoy (Committee Chair)
Richard Meindl (Committee Member)
Christopher Vinyard (Committee Member)
John Stalvey (Committee Member)
221 p.
Anatomy and Physiology; Biology
lumbar transverse process; vertebral evolution

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rosenman, B. (2008). Triangulating the evolution of the vertebral column in the last common ancestor: thoracolumbar transverse process homology in the Hominoidea [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1209155043

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rosenman, Burt. Triangulating the evolution of the vertebral column in the last common ancestor: thoracolumbar transverse process homology in the Hominoidea. 2008. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1209155043.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rosenman, Burt. "Triangulating the evolution of the vertebral column in the last common ancestor: thoracolumbar transverse process homology in the Hominoidea." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1209155043

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1209155043
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.