3.3 Million-Year-Old Fossil Reveals the Antiquity of the Human Spine
The almost perfect fossil skeleton of a 2 1/2 year-old toddler was discovered at Dikika, Ethiopia.
Credit: Zeray Alemseged, University of Chicago
The findings, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, indicate that Selam possesses the most complete spinal column of any early fossil human relative, and her vertebral bones, neck and rib cage are mainly intact. This new research demonstrates that portions of the human skeletal structure were established millions of years earlier than previously thought.
Selam, possesses the most complete spinal column of any early fossil human relative, and her vertebral bones, neck and rib cage are mainly intact.
Credit: Zeray Alemseged, University of Chicago
“For many years we have known of fragmentary remains of early fossil species that suggest that the shift from rib-bearing, or thoracic, vertebrae to lumbar, or lower back, vertebrae was positioned higher in the spinal column than in living humans, but we have not been able to determine how many vertebrae our early ancestors had,” said Carol Ward, a Curators Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences in the MU School of Medicine, and lead author on the study. “Selam has provided us the first glimpse into how our early ancestors’ spines were organized.”
“Continued and painstaking research on the Selam shows that the general structure of the human spinal column emerged over 3.3 million years ago, shedding light on one of the hallmarks of human evolution,” Alemseged said. “This type of preservation is unprecedented, particularly in a young individual whose vertebrae are not yet fully fused.”
In order to be analyzed, Selam had to take a trip. She traveled to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, where Alemseged and the research team used high-resolution imaging technology to visualize the bones. Scans were later sent to Ward at MU for further comparative studies.
“This technology provides the opportunity to virtually examine aspects of the vertebrae otherwise unattainable from the original specimen,” said coauthor of the study Fred Spoor, a professor of evolutionary anatomy in the Department of Biosciences at the University College London.
Ward says the scans indicated that Selam had the distinctive thoracic-to-lumbar joint transition found in other fossil human relatives, but the specimen is the first to show that, like modern humans, our earliest ancestors had only twelve thoracic vertebrae and twelve pairs of ribs, which is fewer than in most apes.
“This unusual early human configuration may be a key in developing more accurate scenarios concerning the evolution of bipedality and modern human body shape,” said Thierra Nalley, an assistant professor of anatomy at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, also an author of the paper.
Contacts and sources:
Jeff Sossamon
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2017/05/33-million-year-old-fossil-reveals.html
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More likely this is another specie’s of monkey or ape. Nothing to see here, as the archaeological science is suspect and slanted toward’s an ignorant bias where the science of biological genetics can easily refute.