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A muscular imprint on the anterolateral surface of the proximal femurs of the Krapina Neandertal collection
Author(s) -
Belcastro Maria Giovanna,
Mariotti Valentina
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.23140
Subject(s) - feature (linguistics) , anatomy , geology , biology , philosophy , linguistics
Objectives The purpose of this study is to report and interpret a feature on the anterolateral surface of the proximal femurs of the Krapina hominid collection that we briefly described in 2006 ( Periodicum Biologorum , 108, 319–329). Materials and Methods We recorded the presence or absence of the feature in all the proximal femurs of the Krapina collection (six specimens recordable) and in 622 modern human adult femurs. Results The feature consists in a series of crests delimitating three raised or depressed areas. This feature has been found in three out of four adult Neandertal femurs observable. The two observable subadult Neandertal femurs do not show this character. None of the modern femurs displayed the feature. Conclusion We interpret this feature as a muscular imprint, probably representing the m. vastus intermedius origin and discuss a possible interpretation. We did not find any other references for such imprint in the existing literature regarding the Neandertal femurs.