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The evolution of the human pelvis: changing adaptations to bipedalism, obstetrics and thermoregulation.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Gruss, LT; Schmitt, D
Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
March 2015

The fossil record of the human pelvis reveals the selective priorities acting on hominin anatomy at different points in our evolutionary history, during which mechanical requirements for locomotion, childbirth and thermoregulation often conflicted. In our earliest upright ancestors, fundamental alterations of the pelvis compared with non-human primates facilitated bipedal walking. Further changes early in hominin evolution produced a platypelloid birth canal in a pelvis that was wide overall, with flaring ilia. This pelvic form was maintained over 3-4 Myr with only moderate changes in response to greater habitat diversity, changes in locomotor behaviour and increases in brain size. It was not until Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and the Middle East 200 000 years ago that the narrow anatomically modern pelvis with a more circular birth canal emerged. This major change appears to reflect selective pressures for further increases in neonatal brain size and for a narrow body shape associated with heat dissipation in warm environments. The advent of the modern birth canal, the shape and alignment of which require fetal rotation during birth, allowed the earliest members of our species to deal obstetrically with increases in encephalization while maintaining a narrow body to meet thermoregulatory demands and enhance locomotor performance.

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Published In

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2970

ISSN

0962-8436

Publication Date

March 2015

Volume

370

Issue

1663

Start / End Page

20140063

Related Subject Headings

  • Pelvis
  • Parturition
  • Humans
  • Gait
  • Fossils
  • Female
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Body Temperature Regulation
  • Biological Evolution
  • Adaptation, Biological
 

Citation

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Gruss, L. T., & Schmitt, D. (2015). The evolution of the human pelvis: changing adaptations to bipedalism, obstetrics and thermoregulation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 370(1663), 20140063. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0063
Gruss, Laura Tobias, and Daniel Schmitt. “The evolution of the human pelvis: changing adaptations to bipedalism, obstetrics and thermoregulation.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 370, no. 1663 (March 2015): 20140063. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0063.
Gruss LT, Schmitt D. The evolution of the human pelvis: changing adaptations to bipedalism, obstetrics and thermoregulation. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological sciences. 2015 Mar;370(1663):20140063.
Gruss, Laura Tobias, and Daniel Schmitt. “The evolution of the human pelvis: changing adaptations to bipedalism, obstetrics and thermoregulation.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, vol. 370, no. 1663, Mar. 2015, p. 20140063. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0063.
Gruss LT, Schmitt D. The evolution of the human pelvis: changing adaptations to bipedalism, obstetrics and thermoregulation. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological sciences. 2015 Mar;370(1663):20140063.
Journal cover image

Published In

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2970

ISSN

0962-8436

Publication Date

March 2015

Volume

370

Issue

1663

Start / End Page

20140063

Related Subject Headings

  • Pelvis
  • Parturition
  • Humans
  • Gait
  • Fossils
  • Female
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Body Temperature Regulation
  • Biological Evolution
  • Adaptation, Biological