Onset of bipedal locomotion and its implications for evolutionary history of Neanderthals and modern humans

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H05609
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Physical anthropology
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Morimoto Naoki 京都大学, 理学研究科, 助教 (70722966)
• Research Collaborator: Zollikofer Christoph
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 自然人類学 / 形態 / 二足歩行 / ネアンデルタール

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, the development of the macro-morphology of the femur, a fundamental locomotor element, was compared between modern humans and Neanderthals. To capture the subtle morphological variation, methods of morphometric mapping were used. The results show a) the femoral morphology exhibits a considerable change even after the age of maturation in modern humans, and Neanderthals follow a similar pattern of aging. On the other hand, modern humans and Neanderthals are relatively similar to each other, but differ in the processes of maturation. The functional significance has to await cautious examination, but it appears that the developmental patterns of the femur, which is of special relevance for locomotion, exhibits diversification in closely related taxa of our genus Homo.

Free Research Field

自然人類学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ヒトは出生後、成長過程で骨格形態を大きく変化させる。本研究では、成熟後にも老年期にかけて大腿骨形態が大きく変化すること、その変化量は出生後から成熟年齢までにおきる形態変化と同程度であることが明らかになった。これは、加齢による骨格形態の変化を初めて定量的に示した点で学術的新規性が高く、高齢社会となった現代における社会的な意義も大きいと考える。さらに、ヒトに近縁でかつ、「現代的な」生活様式を有していなかったネアンデルタールにも同様の変化が見られた点も、学術的・社会的に広く興味を喚起する結果だと考えている。