The Neandertal vertebral column 1: The cervical spine

This paper provides a metric analysis of the Neandertal cervical spine in relation to modern human variation. All seven cervical vertebrae have been analysed. Metric data from eight Neandertal individuals are compared with a large sample of modern humans. The significance of morphometric differences...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gómez Olivencia, Asier, Been, Ella, Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis, Stock, Jay T.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/71960
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/71960
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Vertebrae
Homo neanderthalensis
Late Pleistocene
Descripción
Sumario:This paper provides a metric analysis of the Neandertal cervical spine in relation to modern human variation. All seven cervical vertebrae have been analysed. Metric data from eight Neandertal individuals are compared with a large sample of modern humans. The significance of morphometric differences is tested using both z-scores and two-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank tests. The results identify significant metric and morphological differences between Neandertals and modern humans in all seven cervical vertebrae. Neandertal vertebrae are mediolaterally wider and dorsoventrally longer than modern humans, due in part to longer and more horizontally oriented spinous processes. This suggests that Neandertal cervical morphology was more stable in both mid-sagittal and coronal planes. It is hypothesized that the differences in cranial size and shape in the Neandertal and modern human lineages from their Middle Pleistocene ancestors could account for some of the differences in the neck anatomy between these species.