Description d’un bassin fragmentaire de Paranthropus robustus du site Plio-Pléistocène de Drimolen (Afrique du Sud)

The Plio-Pleistocene site of Drimolen (Gauteng Province, South Africa) has yielded a fragmentary adult pelvis, DNH 43, composed of a robust, right innominate bone (DNH 43B) associated with the sacrum and the posterior arch of the last lumbar vertebra (DNH 43 A). Comparisons with other Plio-Pleistocene hominids (AL 288.1, Sts 14, Sts 65, Stw 431, TM 1605, SK 50, SK 3155b) pelves have been made which indicate that this specimen belongs to Paranthropus robustus. The ilium of the Drimolen hominid is narrowed just above the acetabulum. The small auricular surface is set far away from the acetabulum. The sacrum is curved, the upper lateral angles are clearly expressed. Some anatomical features reveal a lumbar lordosis in DNH 43. This lumbar lordosis is specific of australopithecines because different from extant human.     

Partial skeleton of Proconsul nyanzae from Mfangano Island,Kenya

A partial skeleton attributed to Proconsul nyanzae (KNM-MW 13142) is described. The fossils were found at a site on Mfangano Island, Kenya, which dates to 17.9 ± .1 million years ago. KNM-MW 13142 consists of six partial vertebrae (T12-S1), a nearly complete hipbone, most of the right femur and left femoral shaft, a fragmentary tibia and fibula, and a nearly complete talus and calcaneus. This skeleton provides the first pelvic fossil known for any East African Miocene hominoid. The new Proconsul specimen is compared to a large sample of extant anthropoids to determine its functional and phylogenetic affinities. In most aspects of its anatomy, KNM-MW 13142 closely resembles nonhominoid anthropoids. This individual had a long, flexible spine, narrow torso, and habitually pronograde posture, features characteristic of most extant monkeys. Evidence of spinal musculature suggests a generalized condition intermediate between that of cercopithecoids and hylobatids. The hindlimb of KNM-MW 13142 exhibits relatively mobile hip and ankle joints, with structural properties of the femur like those of hominoids. This mix of features implies a pattern of posture and locomotion that is unlike that of any extant primate. Many aspects of the Proconsul nyanzae locomotor skeleton may represent the primitive catarrhine condition. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Obstetric dimensions of the true pelvis in a medieval population from Sudanese Nubia.

Functional analysis of the true pelvis (defined as that portion lying below and including the pelvic brim) was undertaken on a sample of 36 females from the Medieval site of Kulubnarti in Sudanese Nubia. Standard obstetric measurements were taken and compared to four additional prehistoric skeletal samples and to modern American standards for the same obstetric dimensions. Relative to the other prehistoric populations, the Kulubnarti pelves are smaller in most dimensions and, when compared to modern American standards, from one-third to one-half would be diagnosed as contracted in one or more planes. Given the meager, fluctuating resources of these Medieval Nubians' harsh desert environment, pelvic size reduction is a likely result of body size reduction as one biological response to nutritional stress (Mittler and Van Gerven, 1989; Moore et al., 1986; Van Gerven et al., 1981). It is argued, however, that size reduction created a high potential for either maternal-neonatal morbidity and mortality due to fetopelvic disproportion or neonatal loss due to low birth weight. In either case, it is suggested that the Kulubnarti population paid a significant biological price for this aspect of size reduction.     

A new pelvic fragment from swartkrans and the relationship between the robust and gracile australopithecines

A recently discovered hominid pelvic fragment from Swartkrans (SK 3155) is described in detail with particular reference to the relationship of the two presently recognized forms of australopithecines in South Africa. Results of this examination and metrical analysis indicate that the acetabulum and iliac blade of the early hominids are similar to Homo sapiens except for a unique pattern of traits: a relatively small sacral articular surface, a relatively small acetabulum, a relatively large iliac fossa, and wide lateral splaying of the iliac blades. The new Swartkrans fossil expresses these traits more strongly than does the gracile australopithecine (Sts 14) and is therefore somewhat less similar to Homo sapiens but it is very unlike any pongid.     

Axial pelvis range of motion affects thorax-pelvis timing during gait

During gait, patients with pelvic girdle pain and low back pain demonstrate an altered phase relationship between axial thorax and pelvis rotations (thorax-pelvis relative phase). This could be the result of an increase in axial pelvis range of motion (ROM) which has been observed in these patients as well. To establish this relationship, we investigated if altered axial pelvis ROM during gait affects thorax-pelvis relative phase in 12 healthy subjects. These subjects walked on a treadmill and received real-time feedback on axial pelvis rotations. Subjects were asked to (1) walk normal, and walk with (2) decreased and (3) increased pelvis ROM. Gait speed and stride frequency were matched between trials. Subjects were able to increase pelvis ROM to a large extent, but the reduction in pelvis ROM was relatively small. Walking with large pelvis ROM resulted in a change in thorax-pelvis relative phase similar to that in pelvic girdle pain and low back pain. A forward dynamic model was used to predict the effect of manipulation of pelvis ROM on timing of thorax rotations independent of apparent axial trunk stiffness and arm swing amplitude (which can both affect thorax-pelvis relative phase). The model predicted a similar, even larger, effect of large axial pelvis ROM on thorax-pelvis relative phase, as observed experimentally. We conclude that walking with actively increased ROM of axial pelvis rotations in healthy subjects is associated with a shift in thorax-pelvis relative phase, similar to observations in patients with pelvic girdle pain and low back pain.     

Alterations of treatment-naïve pelvis and thigh muscle morphology in children with cerebral palsy

Lower limb (LL) muscle morphology and growth are altered in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Muscle alterations differ with age and with severity of motor impairment, classified according to the gross motor classification system (GMFCS). Muscle alterations differ also with orthopedic intervention, frequently performed at the level of the shank muscles since an early age, such as the gastrocnemius. The aim was to investigate the alterations of treatment-naïve pelvis and thigh muscle lengths and volumes in children with GMFCS levels I and II, of varying ages.17 children with CP (GMFCS I: N = 9, II: N = 8, age: 11.7 ± 4 years), age-matched to 17 typically developing (TD) children, underwent MRI of the LL. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the muscles were performed bilaterally. Muscle volumes and lengths were calculated in 3D and compared between groups. Linear regression between muscle volumes and age were computed.Adductor-brevis and gracilis lengths, as well as rectus-femoris volume, were decreased in GMFCS I compared to TD (p < 0.05). Almost all the reconstructed muscle volumes and lengths were found to be altered in GMFCS II compared to TD and GMFCS I. All muscle volumes showed significant increase with age in TD and GMFCS I (R² range: 0.3–0.9, p < 0.05). Rectus-femoris, hamstrings and adductor-longus showed reduced increase in the muscle volume with age in GMFCS II when compared to TD and GMFCS I.Alterations of treatment-naïve pelvis and thigh muscle volumes and lengths, as well as muscle growth, seem to increase with the severity of motor impairment in ambulant children with CP.     

太行山猕猴髋骨变量研究初报

本文对22例（♂11,♀11）成年太行山地区猕猴髋骨有关变量进行测量,通过有关变量单因素方差分析、R型聚类和回归分析,结果表明：太行山猕猴的髋骨变量有较明显的自身特征,髋骨有关变量在雌雄之间有明显差异。     

4种平胸鸟类腰荐部骨骼的比较

对鹤鸵(Casuarius casuarius)、鸸鹋(Dromaius novaehollandiae)、美洲鸵鸟(Rhea americana)和鸵鸟(Struthio camelus)的腰荐部骨骼进行了对比。鸸鹋与鹤鸵在愈合荐骨的数目与构成、腰带的结构方面最为相似,均为开放式骨盆。美洲鸵鸟和鸵鸟均为非开放式骨盆,前者的坐骨大部愈合,后者的耻骨后角左右愈合。与突胸鸟类对比发现:平胸类的愈合荐骨相对较长,髂骨后翼狭窄、几乎垂直伸向下方;突胸鸟类的髂骨后翼宽阔、水平侧向伸展并微微向背方拱起。反映了平胸类结构的原始性。     

Soft tissue displacement over pelvic anatomical landmarks during 3-D hip movements

The position, in a pelvis-embedded anatomical coordinate system, of skin points located over the following anatomical landmarks (AL) was determined while the hip assumed different spatial postures: right and left anterior superior and posterior superior iliac spines, and the sacrum. Postures were selected as occurring during walking and during a flexion–extension and circumduction movement, as used to determine the hip joint centre position (star-arc movement). Five volunteers, characterised by a wide range of body mass indices (22–37), were investigated. Subject-specific MRI pelvis digital bone models were obtained. For each posture, the pose of the pelvis-embedded anatomical coordinate system was determined by registering this bone model with points digitised over bony prominences of the pelvis, using a wand carrying a marker-cluster and stereophotogrammetry. The knowledge of how the position of the skin points varies as a function of the hip posture provided information regarding the soft tissue artefact (STA) that would affect skin markers located over those points during stereophotogrammetric movement analysis. The STA was described in terms of amplitude (relative to the position of the AL during an orthostatic posture), diameter (distance between the positions of the AL which were farthest away from each other), and pelvis orientation. The STA amplitude, exhibited, over all postures, a median [inter-quartile] value of 9[6] and 16[11] mm, for normal and overweight volunteers, respectively. STA diameters were larger for the star-arc than for the walking postures, and the direction was predominantly upwards. Consequent errors in pelvic orientation were in the range 1–9 and 4–11 degrees, for the two groups respectively.     

Pelvic dimorphism in relation to body size and body size dimorphism in humans

Many mammalian species display sexual dimorphism in the pelvis, where females possess larger dimensions of the obstetric (pelvic) canal than males. This is contrary to the general pattern of body size dimorphism, where males are larger than females. Pelvic dimorphism is often attributed to selection relating to parturition, or as a developmental consequence of secondary sexual differentiation (different allometric growth trajectories of each sex). Among anthropoid primates, species with higher body size dimorphism have higher pelvic dimorphism (in converse directions), which is consistent with an explanation of differential growth trajectories for pelvic dimorphism. This study investigates whether the pattern holds intraspecifically in humans by asking: Do human populations with high body size dimorphism also display high pelvic dimorphism? Previous research demonstrated that in some small-bodied populations, relative pelvic canal size can be larger than in large-bodied populations, while others have suggested that larger-bodied human populations display greater body size dimorphism. Eleven human skeletal samples (total N: male = 229, female = 208) were utilized, representing a range of body sizes and geographical regions. Skeletal measurements of the pelvis and femur were collected and indices of sexual dimorphism for the pelvis and femur were calculated for each sample [ln(M/F)]. Linear regression was used to examine the relationships between indices of pelvic and femoral size dimorphism, and between pelvic dimorphism and female femoral size. Contrary to expectations, the results suggest that pelvic dimorphism in humans is generally not correlated with body size dimorphism or female body size. These results indicate that divergent patterns of dimorphism exist for the pelvis and body size in humans. Implications for the evaluation of the evolution of pelvic dimorphism and rotational childbirth in Homo are considered.