Hip bone trabecular architecture shows uniquely distinctive locomotor behaviour in South African australopithecines

• Published in: Journal of human evolution 1999-02, Vol.36 (2), p.211-232
• Main Authors: Macchiarelli, R, Bondioli, L, Galichon, V, Tobias, P.V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Animals; Biological Evolution; Fossils; Hip Joint - anatomy & histology; Hip Joint - diagnostic imaging; Hip Joint - physiology; Hominidae - anatomy & histology; Hominidae - physiology; Human body; Human evolution; Human paleontology; Humans; Ilium - anatomy & histology; Ilium - diagnostic imaging; Ilium - physiology; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Locomotion; Mankind origin and evolution; Methodology and general studies; Pelvic Bones - anatomy & histology; Pelvic Bones - diagnostic imaging; Pelvic Bones - physiology; Physiology; Prehistory and protohistory; Radiography; South Africa; South African australopithecines, hip bone, trabecular architecture, locomotor behaviour
• ISSN: 0047-2484; 1095-8606
• DOI: 10.1006/jhev.1998.0267

Cancellous bone retains structural and behavioural properties which are time and strain-rate dependent. As the orientation of the trabeculae (trajectories) follows the direction of the principal strains imposed by daily loadings, habitual postural and locomotor behaviours are responsible for a variety of trabecular architectures and site-specific textural arrangements of the pelvic cancellous network. With respect to the great ape condition, the human trabecular pattern is characterized by a distinctive ilioischial bundle, an undivided sacropubic bundle, and a full diagonal crossing (∼100°) over the acetabulum between the ilioischial and the sacropubic bundles. Advanced digital image processing (DIP) of hip bone radiographs has revealed that adolescent and adult South African australopithecines retained an incompletely developed human-like trabecular pattern associated with gait-related features that are unique among the extant primates.