The relevance of the first ribs of the El Sidrón site (Asturias, Spain) for the understanding of the Neandertal thorax

摘要: Reconstructing the morphology of Neanderthal rib cage not only provides information about general evolution human body shape but also aids understanding functional anatomy and energetics. Despite this paleobiological importance there is still debate nature extent variations in size Neandertal thorax. The El Sidron Neandertals can be used to contribute debate, providing new costal remains ranging from fully preserved undistorted ribs highly fragmented elements. Six first are particularly well offer opportunity analyze thorax Neandertals. aims paper present material, compare ontogenetic trajectories between modern humans, and, using geometric morphometrics, test hypothesis morphological integration overall morphology. adult smaller centroid tend less curved when compared with those similar Kebara 2. Our results further show that straightening significantly correlated a upper (R = 0.66; p < 0.0001) suggesting modularity lower units as reported other hominins. It supports differs humans more anteriorly projecting during inspiration. These differences could have biomechanical consequences account for stronger muscle attachments Different would imply different spatial arrangement shoulder girdle articulation humerus (torsion) its connection Future research should address these inferences context