Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape

Markus Bastir; Daniel García-Martínez; Nicole Torres-Tamayo; Carlos A. Palancar; Benoît Beyer; Alon Barash; Chiara Villa; Juan Alberto Sanchis-Gimeno; Alberto Riesco-López; Shahed Nalla; Isabel Torres-Sánchez; Francisco García-Río; Ella Been; Asier Gómez-Olivencia; Martin Haeusler; Scott A. Williams; Fred Spoor

doi:10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4

Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape

Markus Bastir, Daniel García-Martínez, Nicole Torres-Tamayo, Carlos A. Palancar, Benoît Beyer, Alon Barash, Chiara Villa, Juan Alberto Sanchis-Gimeno, Alberto Riesco-López, Shahed Nalla, Isabel Torres-Sánchez, Francisco García-Río, Ella Been, Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Martin Haeusler, Scott A. Williams, Fred Spoor

Bar-Ilan University - Azrieli Faculty of Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

The tall and narrow body shape of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved via changes in the thorax, pelvis and limbs. It is debated, however, whether these modifications first evolved together in African Homo erectus, or whether H. erectus had a more primitive body shape that was distinct from both the more ape-like Australopithecus species and H. sapiens. Here we present the first quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction of the thorax of the juvenile H. erectus skeleton, KNM-WT 15000, from Nariokotome, Kenya, along with its estimated adult rib cage, for comparison with H. sapiens and the Kebara 2 Neanderthal. Our three-dimensional reconstruction demonstrates a short, mediolaterally wide and anteroposteriorly deep thorax in KNM-WT 15000 that differs considerably from the much shallower thorax of H. sapiens, pointing to a recent evolutionary origin of fully modern human body shape. The large respiratory capacity of KNM-WT 15000 is compatible with the relatively stocky, more primitive, body shape of H. erectus.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1178-1187
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Ecology and Evolution
Volume	4
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4
State	Published - 1 Sep 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Funding

We thank the National Museums of Kenya, E. Mbua and F. Kyalo Manthi for permissions to perform CT and surface scanning of the vertebrae and ribs of KNM-WT 15000. H. Pontzer, D. Lieberman and B. Wood provided helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. We also thank B. Perea-Pérez, D.A. Cáceres-Monllor, A.L. Santos, E. Cunha and M. Almeida for permissions and access to their collections. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (no. CGL 2015-63648-P) to M.B. D.G.-M. was funded by IdEx University of Bordeaux Investments for the Future programme (no. ANR-10-IDEX-03-02) and the European Commission’s Research Infrastructure Action via the Synthesys Projects (nos. SE-TAF-6406, DE-TAF-6404, BE-TAF-5639). Financial support for M.H. was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation (no. 31003A_176319/1) and the Mäxi Foundation. A.G.-O. received support from the Spanish FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación-AEI (project no. PGC2018-093925-B-C33) and Research Group (no. IT1418-19) from Eusko Jaurlaritza-Gobierno Vasco. A.G.-O. is funded by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (no. RYC-2017-22558).

Funders	Funder number
European Commission’s Research Infrastructure Action	BE-TAF-5639, DE-TAF-6404, SE-TAF-6406
Eusko Jaurlaritza-Gobierno Vasco	RYC-2017-22558
FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación-AEI	IT1418-19, PGC2018-093925-B-C33
IdEx University of Bordeaux Investments for the Future programme	ANR-10-IDEX-03-02
Mäxi Foundation
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung	31003A_176319/1
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad	CGL 2015-63648-P
Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España

Access to Document

10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4

Cite this

Bastir, M., García-Martínez, D., Torres-Tamayo, N., Palancar, C. A., Beyer, B., Barash, A., Villa, C., Sanchis-Gimeno, J. A., Riesco-López, A., Nalla, S., Torres-Sánchez, I., García-Río, F., Been, E., Gómez-Olivencia, A., Haeusler, M., Williams, S. A., & Spoor, F. (2020). Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 4(9), 1178-1187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4

@article{7b691fb2da604984a4c2bb0c07c83d92,

title = "Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape",

abstract = "The tall and narrow body shape of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved via changes in the thorax, pelvis and limbs. It is debated, however, whether these modifications first evolved together in African Homo erectus, or whether H. erectus had a more primitive body shape that was distinct from both the more ape-like Australopithecus species and H. sapiens. Here we present the first quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction of the thorax of the juvenile H. erectus skeleton, KNM-WT 15000, from Nariokotome, Kenya, along with its estimated adult rib cage, for comparison with H. sapiens and the Kebara 2 Neanderthal. Our three-dimensional reconstruction demonstrates a short, mediolaterally wide and anteroposteriorly deep thorax in KNM-WT 15000 that differs considerably from the much shallower thorax of H. sapiens, pointing to a recent evolutionary origin of fully modern human body shape. The large respiratory capacity of KNM-WT 15000 is compatible with the relatively stocky, more primitive, body shape of H. erectus.",

author = "Markus Bastir and Daniel Garc{\'i}a-Mart{\'i}nez and Nicole Torres-Tamayo and Palancar, {Carlos A.} and Beno{\^i}t Beyer and Alon Barash and Chiara Villa and Sanchis-Gimeno, {Juan Alberto} and Alberto Riesco-L{\'o}pez and Shahed Nalla and Isabel Torres-S{\'a}nchez and Francisco Garc{\'i}a-R{\'i}o and Ella Been and Asier G{\'o}mez-Olivencia and Martin Haeusler and Williams, {Scott A.} and Fred Spoor",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2020",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4",

language = "אנגלית",

volume = "4",

pages = "1178--1187",

journal = "Nature Ecology and Evolution",

issn = "2397-334X",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "9",

}

Bastir, M, García-Martínez, D, Torres-Tamayo, N, Palancar, CA, Beyer, B, Barash, A, Villa, C, Sanchis-Gimeno, JA, Riesco-López, A, Nalla, S, Torres-Sánchez, I, García-Río, F, Been, E, Gómez-Olivencia, A, Haeusler, M, Williams, SA & Spoor, F 2020, 'Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape', Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 4, no. 9, pp. 1178-1187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape

AU - Bastir, Markus

AU - García-Martínez, Daniel

AU - Torres-Tamayo, Nicole

AU - Palancar, Carlos A.

AU - Beyer, Benoît

AU - Barash, Alon

AU - Villa, Chiara

AU - Sanchis-Gimeno, Juan Alberto

AU - Riesco-López, Alberto

AU - Nalla, Shahed

AU - Torres-Sánchez, Isabel

AU - García-Río, Francisco

AU - Been, Ella

AU - Gómez-Olivencia, Asier

AU - Haeusler, Martin

AU - Williams, Scott A.

AU - Spoor, Fred

PY - 2020/9/1

Y1 - 2020/9/1

N2 - The tall and narrow body shape of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved via changes in the thorax, pelvis and limbs. It is debated, however, whether these modifications first evolved together in African Homo erectus, or whether H. erectus had a more primitive body shape that was distinct from both the more ape-like Australopithecus species and H. sapiens. Here we present the first quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction of the thorax of the juvenile H. erectus skeleton, KNM-WT 15000, from Nariokotome, Kenya, along with its estimated adult rib cage, for comparison with H. sapiens and the Kebara 2 Neanderthal. Our three-dimensional reconstruction demonstrates a short, mediolaterally wide and anteroposteriorly deep thorax in KNM-WT 15000 that differs considerably from the much shallower thorax of H. sapiens, pointing to a recent evolutionary origin of fully modern human body shape. The large respiratory capacity of KNM-WT 15000 is compatible with the relatively stocky, more primitive, body shape of H. erectus.

AB - The tall and narrow body shape of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved via changes in the thorax, pelvis and limbs. It is debated, however, whether these modifications first evolved together in African Homo erectus, or whether H. erectus had a more primitive body shape that was distinct from both the more ape-like Australopithecus species and H. sapiens. Here we present the first quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction of the thorax of the juvenile H. erectus skeleton, KNM-WT 15000, from Nariokotome, Kenya, along with its estimated adult rib cage, for comparison with H. sapiens and the Kebara 2 Neanderthal. Our three-dimensional reconstruction demonstrates a short, mediolaterally wide and anteroposteriorly deep thorax in KNM-WT 15000 that differs considerably from the much shallower thorax of H. sapiens, pointing to a recent evolutionary origin of fully modern human body shape. The large respiratory capacity of KNM-WT 15000 is compatible with the relatively stocky, more primitive, body shape of H. erectus.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087648643&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4

DO - 10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4

M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???

C2 - 32632258

AN - SCOPUS:85087648643

SN - 2397-334X

VL - 4

SP - 1178

EP - 1187

JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution

JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution

IS - 9

ER -

Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this