Anatomy, Evolution of Human

Mounier Aurélien

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Anatomy, Evolution of Human

AURÉLIEN MOUNIER
Musée de l’Homme, France, and University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

The evolutionary history of our species, Homo sapiens, is the subject of numerous stud-
ies in various subfields of physical anthropology, ranging from primatology and behav-
ioral studies of our closest living relatives to genomics studies, including ancient DNA
study of past populations. However, the greatest part of the data available to researchers
remains the rather scarce and incomplete fossil record. Its peculiar nature—usually only
hard tissues, teeth, and bones survive the fossilization process—has led to the predom-
inance of skeletal anatomical studies in human evolution. In paleoanthropology, the
study of skeletal remains follows two principal aims: first, u nderstanding t he phylo-
genetic relationships between humans and their closest extinct relatives and, second,
uncovering the way of life of extinct hominin species (their diet and locomotion) in
order to infer hypotheses about their ecological niche.
Therefore, paleoanthropology relies predominantly on comparative skeletal anatomy
techniques conducted on humans and their closest relatives, both extinct and living. In
order to understand the skeletal evidence in the fossil record, one needs a model to
interpret it. This model is commonly drawn from the study of the closest living rela-
k tive of Homo sapiens: the great apes, members of the subfamily Homininae, which is k
composed of three tribes: Gorillini, Panini, and finally Hominini. Th e Go rillini and
Panini tribes together contain the four species of great apes: western gorillas (Gorilla
gorilla), eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and bono-
bos (pan paniscus) (Roskov et al. 2015). The Hominini is composed of a unique living
species (Homo sapiens) and their closest extinct relatives, classified into many varied
and debated genera, from the possible first Hominini (such as Sahelanthropus, Orrorin,
and Ardipithecus) to the famous australopithecines (often divided between gracile Aus-
tralopithecus and robust Paranthropus) and fi nally to the genus Homo, in which are clas-
sifi ed living humans along with many debated ancestral species such as Homo habilis,
Homo rudolfensis, Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, and Homo heidelbergensis as well as sis-
ter species such as Homo neanderthalensis. This entry focuses on the skeletal anatomy of
living humans (Homo sapiens) within an evolutionary framework, using the Homininae
as a contrast with our own anatomy.

Anatomy in the framework of human evolution

Human evolutionary studies usually rely on fossilized remains, making skeletal

anatomy one of the major domains of paleoanthropologists for understanding the
history of our species. Such a focus on anatomy has led to the hyperspecialization of

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2 A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N

Figure 1 Left: norma facialis of the first Homo neanderthalensis, found in 1856 (cast of Nean-
derthal 1 from Feldhofer Grotto, Germany). Right: the first australopithecine, found in 1925
(original of Taung 1 from Taung, South Africa).

researchers and to the emergence of two subfields: cranial anatomy and postcranial
anatomy. This artificial separation of skeletal elements comes directly from the history
of the discipline. For many years, fossilized skulls were the major focus of paleoanthro-
pologists, based on spectacular and important discoveries relating to cranial elements.
For instance, the first fossil of a Neanderthal (discovered in 1856 in Feldhofer Grotto,
k k
Germany) and the first fossil of an australopithecine (the Taung Child, discovered in
South Africa in 1925) were almost completely composed of cranial elements (Figure 1).
In the case of the first Neanderthal, the discovery was made by miners, so most of the
skeleton was lost; however, some parts of the skeleton were retrieved, notably parts
of the limbs. The anatomy of the head in these fossils led researchers to question the
established hypotheses on the origin of humans. In contrast, the postcranial evidence
in human evolution is less spectacular and was overlooked between the dawn of
paleoanthropology (at the end of the nineteenth century) to the beginning of the
1950s.
Another reason for this artificial separation may be found in the fact that the skull,
and especially the neurocranium (the cranium without the face), carries a clearer phy-
logenetic signal than postcranial bones, which makes it more appropriate when trying
to understand the phylogenetic relationships that link past populations together. Many
studies (e.g., Howells 1989; Lahr 1996) have found differences within extant human
populations by looking at the cranial anatomy alone, and many phylogenetic hypothe-
ses regarding the genus Homo come from the same evidence (Mounier, Marchal, and
Condemi 2009; Rightmire 1990; Wood 1991). In contrast, the postcranial skeleton is
more influenced by climate, diet, and the sociocultural environment than the cranial
skeleton, and differences between taxa often reflect differences in niche (Harcourt 2012;
Holliday 1997; Ruff 2002).
The skull is composed of 30 bones and the postcranial skeleton of 176, making a
total of 206 bones for the whole skeleton; this number is higher in the newborn at 270,
as many bones fuse together during growth.

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A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N 3

Parietal
Frontal Parietal
Frontal Bregma

Temporal
line

Nasal
Lacrimal
Occipital

Mastoid
Sphenoid process Nasal
Zygomatic
Temporal
Maxilla
Zygomatic Maxilla
1 2
I I
Parietal C
Condyle P3
Ramus P
4
Frontal
M1
M2
M3

Coronoid
process
Mandible
M3
M2
Ethmoid
M1
k P4 k
Sphenoid Symphysis Gonial P3
Inferior Occipital
Vomer angle C
nasal
Palatine Mandibular I1 I2
concha corpus

Figure 2 Anatomy of the human skull. From top to bottom and left to right: cranium in norma
lateralis, cranium in norma facialis, mid-sagittal section of the cranium, mandible in norma
facialis and lateralis, and upper and lower tooth rows. The nonitalic labels refer to bone or tooth
names and the italic labels refer to morphological part of a bone.
Source: Modified with permission from the Duckworth Collection, University of Cambridge.

Cranial anatomy
As an anatomical convention, the human skull is generally divided into three parts
(Figure 2): the calvarium or neurocranium, composed of eight bones (frontal, pari-
etals left and right, temporal left and right, occipital, sphenoid, and ethmoid) articulated
around the brain; the upper face, composed of fourteen bones (zygomatic left and right,
maxilla left and right, nasal left and right, lacrimal left and right, inferior nasal conchae
left and right, palatines left and right, ethmoid, and vomer), supports the upper tooth
row (upper jaw) and provides the basic shape of the face; and the mandible (lower jaw)
is a unique bone that supports the lower row of teeth and is attached to the upper face
and to the cranium by soft tissues.
In addition to these main cranial bones, there are seven other bones that are usually
considered to be cranial bones. Three small bones are found in either middle-ear cham-
bers in the petrous portion of the temporal bone (the auditory ossicles): the malleus,
the incus, and the stapes. Their role is to convey sound from the tympanic membrane

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4 A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N

to the inner ear. The hyoid bone is a small horseshoe-shaped bone positioned just above
the larynx (approximately at the level of the third cervical vertebra) and plays a role in
supporting the tongue. The hyoid is unique in human anatomy as it does not articulate
directly with any other bone.
The cranial skeleton also includes the dental anatomy. Each side of each jaw, as in
other mammals, contains four types of teeth: from front to back, two incisors, one
canine, two premolars, and three molars, making a total of sixteen upper teeth and
sixteen lower teeth. The human dental formula is 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3 (i.e., number per type
of teeth from front to back, upper dental row/lower dental row), and is shared with the
apes and some other primates. The earliest mammals had a different dental formula:
three incisors instead of two, and four premolars instead of two. By convention, the
incisors are called I1, I2, and I3; the canine C; the premolars P1, P2, P3, and P4; and the
molars M1, M2, and M3. When applicable, superscripts indicate upper teeth (e.g., I1 )
and subscripts indicate lower teeth (e.g., P3 ). Like most living mammals, the Hominidae
have lost teeth through evolution. The remaining teeth have kept the ancestral num-
bering depending on which tooth was lost; the human teeth are named as follows: I1,
I2, C, P3, P4, M1, M2, and M3 (Figure 2). Teeth are important in the study of human
evolution as they are the part of the skeleton that is best preserved in the fossil record.

Postcranial anatomy
The postcranial skeleton is divided into two regions: the axial skeleton consists of the
k skull (which is generally treated separately; see previous section), the vertebral column, k
and the thorax; the appendicular skeleton consists of the limbs and their connections
to the axial skeleton (the shoulders and the hips).
The vertebral column, also called the spine, is the main region of the axial skeleton.
It ensures the connection of the brain to the rest of the body thanks to the spinal cord,
which runs inside the vertebral canal. The spine can be divided into five parts: seven
cervical vertebrae articulate with the skull through the atlas, the first cervical vertebra
(C1); twelve thoracic vertebrae connect with the ribs (i.e., the thoracic bones forming
the rib or thoracic cage); five lumbar vertebrae articulate with the fourth part of the
spine (the sacrum, which consists of five fused sacral vertebrae), which is prolonged
by the coccyx (i.e., the vestigial tail). The number of vertebrae in each part may vary
slightly between individuals. With the exception of the coccyx, each of those regions has
a curvature that is characteristic of the upright posture of bipeds (Figure 3; Figure 4).
The thorax provides support and protection for numerous organs, including the lungs
and the heart. It is composed of twenty-four ribs (twelve on each side) that articulate
with the thoracic vertebra posteriorly and anteriorly with the sternum. The sternum is
also articulated with the clavicle.
On each side of the body, the appendicular skeleton is formed in the upper part of
the body by the shoulders (composed of the scapula and the clavicle) and by the arms
and hands. The arms have three long bones: the humerus, which articulates proximally
with the scapula and distally forms the elbow with the radius (laterally) and ulna (medi-
ally), which in turn compose the lower arm and which articulate with the wrist. The
wrist is formed of eight smaller bones articulated together and with the proximal hand

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A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N 5

Appendicular skeleton Axial skeleton

Skull Vertebrae

Clavicle Cervical
Sternum Cervical
Scapula curvature
Ribs

Thoracic Thoracic
Humerus curvature
kyphosis
Vertebral
column
Hip:
innominate
Lumbar Lumbar
curvature
Radius
lordosis

Ulna Sacral
Sacral
curvature
Coccygeal
Carpals
Metacarpals

Phalanges 1
4 32 23 4 5

Femur

Patella

k k
Tibia

Fibula

Tarsals
Metatarsals
Phalanges Metatarsals
Tarsals
Phalanges

5432 1

Figure 3 Human postcranial anatomy. The norma facialis view (left) of the human skeleton
shows the appendicular (left set of labels) and axial (right set of labels) skeletons. The norma lat-
eralis view (right) highlights the morphology of the vertebral column and the foot morphology.
Source: Modified with permission from Leocalvett / Dreamstime.

bones, which are the five metacarpals (one for each finger), which are prolonged by three
phalanges, with the exception of the thumb (digit one), which has only two phalanges.
In the lower part of the body, the hips are made of the innominate articulated with the
sacrum medially and with the leg laterally. Similar to the upper part of the body, the leg
is composed of three long bones: the femur articulates proximally with the innominate
and distally with the fibula (medially) and the tibia (laterally), forming the knee, with
an additional bone, the patella, articulating with the femur and the tibia. Both the tibia
and the fibula articulate with the seven ankle bones, which in turn connect to the prox-
imal foot bones, which are the five metatarsals (which are prolonged by the toe bones)

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6 A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N

Cervical
curvature

Thoracic
curvature
kyphosis

Lumbar
curvature
lordosis

Sacral Bicondylar
curvature angle

Barrel
shaped
k k

Figure 4 Human postcranial skeleton showing the main adaptations to bipedalism compared
with chimpanzee anatomy (shadowed). Top left: norma lateralis of the human vertebral column.
Bottom left: vertebral column and rib cage. Right: norma facialis of the pelvis and of a modern
human leg. Source: Modified with permission from TurboSquid.

plus three phalanges for each toe with the exception of the hallux (digit one), which has
only two phalanges (Figure 3).

Bipedalism: A specialized body

One of the major morphological characteristics of the subtribe Hominini is the

specialization for bipedalism. The human skeleton is especially well designed for this

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A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N 7

mode of locomotion, and humans have a number of anatomical specializations toward

bipedalism. Those characteristics can be observed both on the skull and on the rest of
the skeleton.
On the cranium, one of the main features linked to bipedalism is the position of
the foramen magnum. This large orifice runs through the inferior part of the occipital
bone and connects the cranial cavity with the vertebral canal, where the spinal cord, the
vertebral arteries, and the accessory nerves go. In bipedal humans, the foramen mag-
num is positioned below the skull, allowing the cranium to rest atop of the vertebral
column; in contrast, it is positioned toward the back of the skull in more quadrupedal
primates (including the great apes), preventing a full upright bipedal stance. In other
Homo species, including Homo erectus sensu lato, Homo heidelbergensis sensu lato, and
Homo neanderthalensis, the foramen magnum is positioned in the same way as in mod-
ern humans. In australopithecines, whose bipedalism is slightly different from that of
modern humans, the foramen magnum is anteriorly positioned as in Homo but has a
different inclination (Kimbel and Rak 2010; Figure 5). Associated with this morphology
are the shape and position of the nuchal crests. In humans the insertion of the nuchal
muscles (i.e., longissimus capitis and semispinalis capitis) is not strongly marked and
is positioned well below the skull, while in great apes there is a strong nuchal crest
located superiorly on the skull at the suture of the occipital and the parietals. Within
the genus Homo, this muscle insertion is generally more developed than in modern
humans and forms a posteriorly located occipital torus in most Homo species (i.e.,
k Homo erectus sensu lato, Homo heidelbergensis, and Homo neanderthalensis). This is also k
the case in australopithecines, which tend to show a very strongly developed occipital
torus (Figure 5).
The postcranial skeleton bears most of the specializations toward bipedalism. In the
axial skeleton, the vertebral column, which enters vertically from the center of the skull,
shows four distinctive curvatures that play a role in maintaining balance when walking
upright. Only the thoracic (kyphosis) and sacral curvatures are present from birth (pri-
mary curvatures); two secondary curvatures form later: the cervical curvature at about
three months of age and the lumbar (lordosis) curvature when the child begins to walk.
In great apes, only chimpanzees have a unique cervical curvature. There is strong evi-
dence (Ward 2013) showing that the australopithecines (both robust and gracile) had
developed spinal curvatures, and the lumbar curvature has been identified in numer-
ous fossils. The four curvatures are present in later Homo species and in Homo erectus
(Walker and Leakey 1993), showing a perfect adaptation to bipedalism. Additionally,
the rib cage reflects adaptation to locomotion. Humans have a barrel-shaped thoracic
cage, narrow at the top and the bottom and widened in its medial part, which helps to
centralize the body’s center of gravity, contrary to the more conic-shaped (narrow at
the top and wide at the bottom) thoracic cage of the great apes (Figure 4). Both early
Homo and australopithecines show a thoracic cage that is similar to that of humans,
even though it is not completely clear in the case of australopithecines, which were first
described as having a conic-shaped rib cage (Walker and Leakey 1993). Homo nean-
derthalensis is believed to have had a barrel-shaped thoracic cage, which could be due
to adaptation to a cold environment.

k
 k
Trim Size: 170mm x 244mm

Homo sapiens Homo neanderthalensis Homo heidelbergensis

Supraorbital
Supraorbital torus
torus

Supraorbital
region

Nuchal crest Cranial

Cranial Cranial Nuchal crest
base
base Nuchal Nuchal crest base Axis of the
Axis of the flexion
flexion muscle flexion foramen magnum
foramen magnum Foramen
Foramen Foramen magnum magnum
magnum
Axis of the
foramen magnum Sagittal crest Sagittal crest
Gorilla gorilla Paranthropus boisei Australopithecus africanus
Supraorbital

k
k

torus
Nuchal Supraorbital
crest torus
Supraorbital
torus
Nuchal
muscle
Callan

Cranial Foramen
Cranial Nuchal crest
base magnum Nuchal crest Cranial
flexion base Axis of the base Axis of the
Axis of the
flexion foramen magnum flexion foramen magnum
foramen magnum
Foramen Foramen
magnum magnum
wbiea1765.tex

Figure 5 Comparative anatomy of the cranium in Homo sapiens, members of the Hominin subtribe, and Gorilla gorilla showing modern human-specific
anatomies.
Source: All specimens are 3D models obtained from computed tomography scans: Homo sapiens (Duckworth Collection, University of Cambridge), Homo
neanderthalensis (La Ferrassie 1, Musée de l’Homme), Homo heidelbergensis (Kabwe 1, Natural History Museum, London), Gorilla gorilla (Duckworth
V1 - 09/19/2017

Collection, University of Cambridge), Paranthropus boisei (OH5, Institute for Anthropology, Vienna; Department of Antiquities, Dar es Salaam), and
Australopithecus africanus (Sts 5, Institute for Anthropology, Vienna; Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria).
10:09 A.M.
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A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N 9

The human appendicular skeleton has much shorter upper limbs than lower limbs;
this contrasts with the great apes, where the upper limbs are longer than the lower limbs,
illustrating their particular quadrupedal, partly arboreal, knuckle-walking locomotion.
In australopithecines, the relative proportion of the lower and upper limbs is somewhat
intermediary, with relatively longer arms than in humans, depicting their enhanced
abilities for arboreal locomotion compared to humans. Within the genus Homo and in
Homo erectus, those proportions are humanlike.
In the upper part of the axial skeleton, the human short arms articulate with the
scapula and the clavicle. The scapula is posteriorly positioned and the glenoid cavity
(the socket that articulates with the humerus) is laterally oriented, in contrast to great
apes, whose scapula is positioned more laterally with the glenoid cavity more superiorly
oriented. Ape anatomy gives more flexibility to the upper limbs, while human morphol-
ogy may favor the use of the upper limbs in an anterior position, hence enhancing the
ability to manipulate objects. Most hominins have a humanlike morphology, with the
exception of the australopithecines, who may have retained a somewhat more laterally
positioned shoulder. Additionally, the human hand shows a major specialization with
a fully opposable thumb (digit one; Figure 3), allowing two prehensile grips: the preci-
sion and the power grips (Napier 1956). But we lack any specialization toward arboreal
locomotion as seen in great apes and australopithecines (i.e., the metacarpals and pha-
langes of digits two to five are longer and curved). Most of the Hominini belonging
to the genus Homo show a similar humanlike condition, indicating their absence of
k specialization for arboreal behavior. k
In the lower part of the appendicular skeleton, one of the main features showing the
adaptation to locomotion is the human pelvis, which is supero-inferiorly shortened and
latero-medially widened, with the ilium (the thin blade-like portion of the innominate
superior to the hip socket) flaring laterally overlooking the leg (Figure 4). The human
pelvis forms a large pelvic cavity, allowing the passage of newborns with large heads.
In great apes, the hips are supero-inferiorly lengthened and latero-medially shortened.
The pelvis of the first bipeds, the australopithecines, is not intermediate in shape: it
is broader latero-medially than the human one. This morphology reflects a perfect
bipedalism, which is nevertheless different from that of humans. Such a specialization
of the hips is accompanied by a different lower-limb anatomy. Specifically, the human
femur has a long femoral neck connecting it to the innominate, and is strongly angled
(8–11 degrees) compared to vertical orientation. In great apes, the femoral bicondylar
angle is almost absent (1–2 degrees) while the australopithecines show an extreme
pattern, with 12–15 degrees (Figure 4). The ankle and foot are also highly specialized
in humans. First, the ankle joint is nearly perpendicular to the long axis of the tibia,
while in great apes it is angled (tibiotalar angle: 20–35 degrees); in addition, the tarsals
and metatarsals have a different morphology, as exemplified by the development of the
human calcaneus (heel), which is adapted to a heel-striking walk and by the presence
of longitudinal arches on the inferior part of the foot; finally, the human hallux is
aligned with the other digits (laterally rotated and adducted) whereas it is opposable
in great apes, offering (with curved phalanges) grasping abilities that are completely
absent in humans.

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10 A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N

A unique cranial shape, encephalization, and diet

Primates in general have relatively large brains in relation to their body size. Encephal-
ization is the relative measure of brain size compared to an expected value for a typical
animal of the same body size. In primates this has been linked to various factors, such
as intelligence, diet, and the use of binocular vision. However, if relatively large brains
are a shared common feature in primates, the degree of encephalization observed in
modern humans sets them apart from both the other primates and the other members
of the subtribe Hominini, which share a specialization toward bipedalism. Especially, it
separates modern humans from the australopithecines, which are habitual bipeds but
lack the extreme encephalization observed among the members of the genus Homo.
Modern human cranial capacity, in current populations, is highly variable, ranging
from 1,000 to 1,700 cm3 , but the average capacity is around 1,400 cm3 . This is much big-
ger than in other great apes, whose cranial capacity is generally around 400 cm3 (respec-
tively for chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans: 393 cm3 , 465 cm3 , and 418 cm3 ), but
smaller than in Homo neanderthalensis (around 1,500 cm3 ). Relative to body size (or
mass), modern humans have the largest brain of all Hominini. The skull is a highly
integrated anatomical structure, and covariation between the calvarium (i.e., neuro-
cranium), the face, and the mandible has been well described (Lieberman 2011). To
accommodate such a massive brain, many anatomical characteristics of the various
regions of the skull are specialized.
k The first striking feature is the globular (i.e., spherical) shape of the cranial vault k
(neurocranium), which is unique to the Homo genus and more particularly to Homo
sapiens. In addition to providing more space for the brain, biomechanical characteris-
tics of the spherical shape of the vault—associated with a thicker cranial vault in critical
locations (at the bregma: the suture between the frontal and parietal bones, and at the
back of the head on the occipital; Figure 2; Figure 5)—may help to protect the brain
from localized impacts and prevent fractures. The reduction of the cranial base angle
is associated with encephalization: modern humans have a highly flexed basicranium
whose evolution was probably driven by the increase of brain size without any increase
in basicranium length. The cranial base angle is approximately 157 degrees in goril-
las, whereas it is around 142 degrees in australopithecines (Australopithecus afarensis)
and only 137 degrees in modern humans. A consequence of a flexed basicranium in
modern humans is the downward rotation of the face, which is located underneath the
anterior-most part of the brain case. In a comparative perspective and also highly cor-
related to the increase in cranial capacity, the relative proportions of the face and the
calvarium are also remarkable (Figure 3). In great apes, the face occupies as much space
in the skull as the calvarium, while in modern humans the calvarium is much larger than
the face. The development of a larger brain throughout human evolution was accom-
panied by a reduction in facial proportion and in facial projection. The human face is
called “orthognathic,” as it does not project anteriorly and is relatively flat, while the
great apes and the australopithecines have “prognathic” faces, which project anteriorly.
Most hominins, including numerous Homo species, have prognathic faces, which are,
however, much reduced compared to those of great apes and of australopithecines, but

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A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N 11

only modern humans have faces that are properly orthognathic and located underneath
the brain.
Another aspect that impacted the evolution of the human skull is related to diet.
Humans eat highly processed and transformed (i.e., cooked) food, which allows them
to eat very hard types of food without having a specialized morphology. In contrast,
great apes spend a lot of their time eating and chewing hard types of food. This can be
seen in the shape of their skull and primarily in the strongly marked insertions of the
main chewing muscles (i.e., temporalis, masseter, and medial and lateral pterygoid).
For instance, the temporalis muscle, which runs from the parietal and frontal bones
to the coronoid process of the mandible (Figure 2), leaves faint marks at mid-height
on the parietal and frontal bones of the human skull (the temporal line), while in great
apes and in robust australopithecines the right and left muscles join in the midline
of the skull and the insertion forms a strongly developed bony crest (sagittal crest;
see Figure 5). Homo species completely lack this superstructure, which is reduced in
Homo erectus to a slight increase in cranial thickness at the level of the bregma and to
temporal lines that may form a swelling on the frontal and parietal bones. Similarly,
the masseter muscle, which runs from the zygomatic bone to the gonial angle of the
mandible, may or may not leave a mark on the human mandible, whereas it does
in great apes and in australopithecines, which often show extroverted gonial angles.
This particular feature may be observed within the genus Homo, especially in Homo
erectus fossils. More generally, the shape of the skull may be affected by the type of food
k processed. For instance, the human mandible has a rather short antero-posterior ramus k
length and a relatively short supero-inferior mandibular corpus length (Figure 2).
Both great apes and australopithecines have wider rami and taller mandibular corpora.
This is also the case for most premodern Homo species. However, it is important to
keep in mind that the facial architecture is plastic and may reflect local adaptation
to diet.
Finally, teeth also reflect shifts in diet, and teeth morphology is commonly used
in the identification of fossil specimens. Overall, the human denture is small, espe-
cially when compared to that of both great apes and australopithecines. First, humans
have small canines, a trait that is mostly related to sexual dimorphism, and conse-
quently lack a diastema (a space between P3 and C), which allows oversized canines to
fit into the mouth. Second, humans have relatively small postcanine teeth—premolars
and molars (Figure 2). In australopithecines and especially in Paranthropus, the premo-
lars and molars are highly specialized and feature extreme proportions (i.e., megadon-
tia) compared to the front teeth. Within the genus Homo, these features are always
absent, and Homo species such as Homo heidelbergensis may have a different skeletal
morphology, but the major dental traits are modernlike.
Finally, two additional morphologies of the human skull may or may not be related
to diet but are important in the definition of Homo sapiens. The first is the presence of
a chin on the anterior surface of the symphysis of the mandible. No other primate, no
other Hominini, and no other Homo species possess such a swelling on the mandible,
which is formed by bone resorption of the upper alveolar portion of the symphysis,
leaving a projecting chin. Many hypotheses regarding the biomechanical properties of
the human chin have been made, but none of them is completely convincing in making

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12 A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N

Supraorbital
ridge
No supraorbital
ridge

No nuchal
Nuchal crest crest

Large mastoid process Small mastoid process

< 90° > 90°

k k

Narrow Wide sciatic

sciatic notch notch

Figure 6 Differences between male (left) and female (right) Homo sapiens on the cranium and
on the pelvis. From top to bottom: norma lateralis of a male and female cranium, norma frontalis
of male and female pelvises, and norma lateralis of male and female pelvises.
Source: Top image modified with permission from the Duckworth Collection, University of
Cambridge; middle and bottom images modified with permission from TurboSquid.

the chin an adaptation to mechanical strain (Lieberman 2011). The other morphology is
the absence of a supraorbital torus or supraorbital bar, which is a relatively straight and
continuous bony superstructure that extends across the frontal bone and projects ante-
riorly above the orbits (Figure 5). Both great apes and australopithecines have a strongly
marked supraorbital torus. Most Homo species have such a superstructure but modern
humans do not. The lack of a supraorbital torus in modern humans is linked to their

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A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N 13

small face and the lack of upper facial projection. However, various studies have pointed
out that a supraorbital torus may have implications in strains related to chewing (Picq
and Hylander 1992), but this functional inference has not been fully demonstrated.

Sexual dimorphism in humans

In most Homininae, females and males possess different morphologies, reflecting

their sex. For instance, in gorillas, the cranial superstructures (sagittal crest, nuchal
crests) and the canines are much more developed in males than in females. Within
the Hominini subtribe, such sexual differences tend to reduce over time. Australop-
ithecines seem to have displayed a relatively strong sexual dimorphism, but within the
Homo genus the differences have almost become unnoticeable. In modern humans,
females are often smaller and generally more gracile, and a few cranial morphological
features may differ between male and female. For instance, males may have a supraor-
bital region developing into a ridge, strong muscle insertions on the occipital (nuchal
crests), and a strongly developed mastoid process. Additionally, the frontal bone is
often steeper in females and more rounded in males (Figure 6). However, most of those
features may vary between and within populations without always being related to sex.
The most important morphological difference between males and females is to be
found in the pelvis. One of the functions of the pelvis is linked to parturition. As a
k result, females have a slightly different pelvis as it has to accommodate the transit of k
newborns: the cavity of the pelvis as well as the pelvic inlet and outlet are wider in
females; the angle of the pubic arch is greater than 90 degrees and the sciatic notch is
wider (Figure 6).
The human skeletal anatomy underlines the main aspects of our evolution by show-
ing how our skeleton reflects both our taxonomical classification and our phylogenetic
relationships with our closest relatives.

wbiea1638 SEE ALSO: Skeletal Aging and Sexing Techniques; Homo: Evolution of the Genus;
wbiea1672
wbiea1743 Anatomy and Climate-Related Variation in Hominins; Modern Humans, Origins of;
wbiea1911
wbiea1920 Hominins, Early; Childbirth and Brain Size, Evolutionary Constraints of; Bipedalism
wbiea2034
wbiea2042

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Harcourt, Alexander H. 2012. Human Biogeography. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Holliday, Trenton W. 1997. “Postcranial Evidence of Cold Adaptation in European Neandertals.”
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 104: 245–58.
Howells, William W. 1989. Skull Shapes and the Map: Craniometric Analyses in the Dispersion of
Modern Homo. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kimbel, William H., and Yoel Rak. 2010. “The Cranial Base of Australopithecus afarensis: New
Insights from the Female Skull.” Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society B: Biological
Sciences 365: 3365–76.
Lahr, Marta M. 1996. The Evolution of Modern Human Diversity: A Study of Cranial Variation.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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14 A N AT O M Y, E V O L U T I O N OF HUMA N

Lieberman, Daniel E. 2011. The Evolution of the Human Head. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni-
versity Press.
Mounier, Aurélien, François Marchal, and Silvana Condemi. 2009. “Is Homo heidelbergensis
a Distinct Species? New Insight on the Mauer Mandible.” Journal of Human Evolution 56:
219–46.
Napier, J. R. 1956. “The Prehensile Movements of the Human Hand.” Journal of Bone & Joint
Surgery 38-B (4): 902–13.
Picq, Pascal G., and William L. Hylander. 1992. “La signification fonctionnelle du torus
sus-orbitaire et la transition Homo erectus / Homo sapiens [The Functional Significance of
the Supra-orbital Torus and the Transition Homo erectus / Homo sapiens].” In Cinq millions
d’années, l’aventure humaine [Five Million Years, the Human Journey], edited by M. Toussaint,
125–50. Liège, Belgium: ERAUL.
Rightmire, G. Philip. 1990. The Evolution of Homo erectus: Comparative Anatomical Studies of
an Extinct Human Species. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Roskov, Y., L. Abucay, T. Orrell, D. Nicolson, T. Kunze, A. Culham, N. Bailly et al. 2015. Species
2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2015 Annual Checklist. Accessed June 22, 2017, http://www.
catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2015.
Ruff, Christopher. 2002. “Variation in Human Body Size and Shape.” Annual Review of Anthro-
pology 31: 211–32.
Walker, Alan C., and Richard E. F. Leakey, eds. 1993. The Nariokotome Homo erectus Skeleton.
Berlin: Springer.
Ward, Carol V. 2013. “Postural and Locomotor Adaptations of Australopithecus Species.” In The
Paleobiology of Australopithecus, edited by Kaye E. Reed, John G. Fleagle, and Richard E.
Leakey, 235–46. Dordrecht: Springer.
k White, Tim D., Michael T. Black, and Pieter A. Folkens. 2011. Human Osteology. 3rd ed. Ams- k
terdam: Academic Press.
Whitehead, Paul F., William K. Sacco, and S. B. Hochgraf. 2005. A Photographic Atlas for Physical
Anthropology. Englewood, CO: Morton.
Wood, Bernard. 1991. Hominid Cranial Remains. Vol. 4 of Koobi Fora Reserach Project. Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
Wood, Bernard, ed. 2011. Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Human Evolution. Chichester, UK:
Wiley Blackwell.

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Please note that the abstract and keywords will not be included in the printed book,
but are required for the online presentation of this book which will be published on
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If the abstract and keywords are not present below, please take this opportunity to
add them now.
The abstract should be a short paragraph of between 50 and 150 words in length and
there should be at least 3 keywords.

ABSTRACT
The study of the evolution of humans relies mostly on data from comparative skeletal
anatomy techniques conducted on Hominini remains. This entry describes the skeletal
anatomy of modern humans (Homo sapiens) within the framework of human evolu-
tion, contrasting modern human specialized cranial and postcranial skeletons with the
skeletons of great apes (i.e., gorillas and chimpanzees) and with other species from the
Hominini subtribe (i.e., Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and other Homo species).

k KEYWORDS k
biological or physical anthropology; evolution; human evolution; paleoanthropology;
skeletal anatomy