Anatomical differences in the human ilium underpin the ability to walk upright. The ilium anchors the gluteus maximus and in humans develops with a perpendicular orientation of the cartilage growth plate (physis) compared with other primates. Bone formation over the cartilage also differs, with distinct patterns of osteoblast deposition and mineralization in the human ilium. High-resolution 3D imaging of embryos and foetuses revealed these combined changes in cartilage direction and bone mineralization. These embryonic modifications reorient and strengthen the pelvis so the ilium can support erect posture and the biomechanics required for habitual bipedal locomotion.
The ilium is the big, flared part of the pelvis that anchors the powerful gluteus maximus muscles that humans use to stay upright. Differences in the illum between humans and other apes are a defining evolutionary difference. "The most important impact of the paper is that it shows us how changes to the formation of the ilium contributed to bipedal gait in humans," said Prof Nowlan, who began this research after meeting Dr Terence Capellini, a Harvard University anthropologist, at a scientific meeting.
"In this paper, the evolutionary shift in morphology of the pelvis that enabled bipedal locomotion has been revealed, largely through looking at the embryo," said Prof Nowlan. Dr Capellini, who led the research, studies the evolutionary origins of bipedalism, while Prof Nowlan is interested in the human hip before birth. Alongside Professor Owen Arthurs, a paediatric radiologist from Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London Hospitals (UCLH),
Collection
[
|
...
]