Skip to main content
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • Archive
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • Highlights from Latest Articles
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Purpose and Scope
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • For Reviewers
    • Author FAQ
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • Archive
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • Highlights from Latest Articles
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Purpose and Scope
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • For Reviewers
    • Author FAQ

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Applied Physical Sciences
  • Astronomy
  • Computer Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Economic Sciences
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Applied Biological Sciences
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics and Computational Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Immunology and Inflammation
  • Medical Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
  • Systems Biology

Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans

Habiba Chirchir, Tracy L. Kivell, Christopher B. Ruff, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Kristian J. Carlson, Bernhard Zipfel, and Brian G. Richmond
PNAS published ahead of print December 22, 2014 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411696112
Habiba Chirchir
aCenter for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052;bHuman Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: habibachirchir@gmail.combrichmond@amnh.org
Tracy L. Kivell
cAnimal Postcranial Evolution Laboratory, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NR, United Kingdom;dDepartment of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Christopher B. Ruff
eCenter for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jean-Jacques Hublin
dDepartment of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kristian J. Carlson
fEvolutionary Studies Institute, The University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein 2000 Johannesburg, South Africa;gDepartment of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405; and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Bernhard Zipfel
fEvolutionary Studies Institute, The University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein 2000 Johannesburg, South Africa;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Brian G. Richmond
aCenter for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052;bHuman Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560;hDivision of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: habibachirchir@gmail.combrichmond@amnh.org
  1. Edited by Erik Trinkaus, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, and approved November 26, 2014 (received for review June 23, 2014)

See related content:

  • Gracility of the modern Homo sapiens skeleton is the result of decreased biomechanical loading
    - Jan 13, 2015
  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Significance

The human skeleton is unique in having low trabecular density representing a lightly built human body form. However, it remains unknown when during human evolution this unique characteristic first appeared. To our knowledge, this study is the first to examine trabecular bone density throughout the skeleton of fossil hominins spanning several million years. The results show that trabecular density remained high throughout human evolution until it decreased significantly in recent modern humans, suggesting a possible link between changes in our skeleton and increased sedentism.

Abstract

Humans are unique, compared with our closest living relatives (chimpanzees) and early fossil hominins, in having an enlarged body size and lower limb joint surfaces in combination with a relatively gracile skeleton (i.e., lower bone mass for our body size). Some analyses have observed that in at least a few anatomical regions modern humans today appear to have relatively low trabecular density, but little is known about how that density varies throughout the human skeleton and across species or how and when the present trabecular patterns emerged over the course of human evolution. Here, we test the hypotheses that (i) recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the upper and lower limbs compared with other primate taxa and (ii) the reduction in trabecular density first occurred in early Homo erectus, consistent with the shift toward a modern human locomotor anatomy, or more recently in concert with diaphyseal gracilization in Holocene humans. We used peripheral quantitative CT and microtomography to measure trabecular bone of limb epiphyses (long bone articular ends) in modern humans and chimpanzees and in fossil hominins attributed to Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus/early Homo from Swartkrans, Homo neanderthalensis, and early Homo sapiens. Results show that only recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the limb joints. Extinct hominins, including pre-Holocene Homo sapiens, retain the high levels seen in nonhuman primates. Thus, the low trabecular density of the recent modern human skeleton evolved late in our evolutionary history, potentially resulting from increased sedentism and reliance on technological and cultural innovations.

  • trabecular bone
  • human evolution
  • gracilization
  • Homo sapiens
  • sedentism

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: habibachirchir{at}gmail.com or brichmond{at}amnh.org.
  • Author contributions: H.C. and B.G.R. designed research; H.C. performed research; T.L.K., C.B.R., J.-J.H., K.J.C., and B.Z. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; H.C. analyzed data; H.C. wrote the paper; and T.L.K., C.B.R., and B.G.R. contributed to writing the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1411696112/-/DCSupplemental.

Next
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
Citation Tools
Recent origin of low trabecular bone density
Habiba Chirchir, Tracy L. Kivell, Christopher B. Ruff, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Kristian J. Carlson, Bernhard Zipfel, Brian G. Richmond
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2014, 201411696; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1411696112

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Recent origin of low trabecular bone density
Habiba Chirchir, Tracy L. Kivell, Christopher B. Ruff, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Kristian J. Carlson, Bernhard Zipfel, Brian G. Richmond
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2014, 201411696; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1411696112
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 116 (7)
Current Issue

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Several aspects of the proposal, which aims to expand open access, require serious discussion and, in some cases, a rethink.
Opinion: “Plan S” falls short for society publishers—and for the researchers they serve
Several aspects of the proposal, which aims to expand open access, require serious discussion and, in some cases, a rethink.
Image credit: Dave Cutler (artist).
Several large or long-lived animals seem strangely resistant to developing cancer. Elucidating the reasons why could lead to promising cancer-fighting strategies in humans.
Core Concept: Solving Peto’s Paradox to better understand cancer
Several large or long-lived animals seem strangely resistant to developing cancer. Elucidating the reasons why could lead to promising cancer-fighting strategies in humans.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com/ronnybas frimages.
Featured Profile
PNAS Profile of NAS member and biochemist Hao Wu
 Nonmonogamous strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio).  Image courtesy of Yusan Yang (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh).
Putative signature of monogamy
A study suggests a putative gene-expression hallmark common to monogamous male vertebrates of some species, namely cichlid fishes, dendrobatid frogs, passeroid songbirds, common voles, and deer mice, and identifies 24 candidate genes potentially associated with monogamy.
Image courtesy of Yusan Yang (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh).
Active lifestyles. Image courtesy of Pixabay/MabelAmber.
Meaningful life tied to healthy aging
Physical and social well-being in old age are linked to self-assessments of life worth, and a spectrum of behavioral, economic, health, and social variables may influence whether aging individuals believe they are leading meaningful lives.
Image courtesy of Pixabay/MabelAmber.

More Articles of This Classification

Biological Sciences

  • Structural basis for activity of TRIC counter-ion channels in calcium release
  • PGC1A regulates the IRS1:IRS2 ratio during fasting to influence hepatic metabolism downstream of insulin
  • Altered neural odometry in the vertical dimension
Show more

Anthropology

  • Radiocarbon dates and Bayesian modeling support maritime diffusion model for megaliths in Europe
  • Enabling creative collaboration for all levels of learning
  • Facial masculinity does not appear to be a condition-dependent male ornament and does not reflect MHC heterozygosity in humans
Show more

Related Content

  • In This Issue
  • Skeletal gracility in modern humans
  • Scopus
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited by...

  • Gradual decline in mobility with the adoption of food production in Europe
  • Scopus (50)
  • Google Scholar

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive

PNAS Portals

  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Teaching Resources
  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Press
  • Site Map

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2019 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490