Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record
This contribution is a short review of the functional significance of the patella in extant catarrhines and extinct hominins and of current functional, adaptive and evolutionary-related questions concerning the fossil hominin record. The patella plays a key functional role in the knee joint and thus...
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| Language: | English |
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Société d'Anthropologie de Paris
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/10118 |
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| author | Marine Cazenave |
| author_facet | Marine Cazenave |
| author_sort | Marine Cazenave |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This contribution is a short review of the functional significance of the patella in extant catarrhines and extinct hominins and of current functional, adaptive and evolutionary-related questions concerning the fossil hominin record. The patella plays a key functional role in the knee joint and thus reflects habitual postural and locomotion modes. However, patellar remains are rare in the hominin fossil record and it is still unclear whether and how their differences in shape and proportions compared to extant humans affect knee kinesiology. Here, we illustrate with a first example from a sample of human, Pan, Papio and Neanderthal patellae that the development of a "whole-bone" endostructural analysis has the potential to provide relevant functional information for reconstructing the knee loading environment in fossil taxa, combined, whenever necessary, with a subsampling approach. This method relies on the plastic nature of the cortical and trabecular bony tissues and the modelling and remodelling dynamics during life to adjust structurally to the site-specific loading environment. This kind of information would bring new contributions not only to ongoing discussions on the evolutionary forces that shaped the knee joint in association with postural and locomotor adaptations, but also to the tentative taxonomic identification of isolated fossil specimens. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-699161ffda2d49d8bb99ff62faab03af |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1777-5469 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Société d'Anthropologie de Paris |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris |
| spelling | doaj-art-699161ffda2d49d8bb99ff62faab03af2025-01-30T11:27:45ZengSociété d'Anthropologie de ParisBulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris1777-54692022-09-013410.4000/bmsap.10118Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil recordMarine CazenaveThis contribution is a short review of the functional significance of the patella in extant catarrhines and extinct hominins and of current functional, adaptive and evolutionary-related questions concerning the fossil hominin record. The patella plays a key functional role in the knee joint and thus reflects habitual postural and locomotion modes. However, patellar remains are rare in the hominin fossil record and it is still unclear whether and how their differences in shape and proportions compared to extant humans affect knee kinesiology. Here, we illustrate with a first example from a sample of human, Pan, Papio and Neanderthal patellae that the development of a "whole-bone" endostructural analysis has the potential to provide relevant functional information for reconstructing the knee loading environment in fossil taxa, combined, whenever necessary, with a subsampling approach. This method relies on the plastic nature of the cortical and trabecular bony tissues and the modelling and remodelling dynamics during life to adjust structurally to the site-specific loading environment. This kind of information would bring new contributions not only to ongoing discussions on the evolutionary forces that shaped the knee joint in association with postural and locomotor adaptations, but also to the tentative taxonomic identification of isolated fossil specimens.https://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/10118patellacortical bonetrabecular bonefossil hominins"whole-bone" analysis |
| spellingShingle | Marine Cazenave Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris patella cortical bone trabecular bone fossil hominins "whole-bone" analysis |
| title | Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record |
| title_full | Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record |
| title_fullStr | Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record |
| title_full_unstemmed | Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record |
| title_short | Functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella: new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record |
| title_sort | functional insights from an exploration of the inner structure of the patella new perspectives for the study of the hominin fossil record |
| topic | patella cortical bone trabecular bone fossil hominins "whole-bone" analysis |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/10118 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marinecazenave functionalinsightsfromanexplorationoftheinnerstructureofthepatellanewperspectivesforthestudyofthehomininfossilrecord |