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Correlating Costal Curvature and Lung Volume in the Genus Homo
Author(s) -
EavesJohnson K. Lindsay
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.239.2
Subject(s) - lung volumes , rib cage , functional residual capacity , bipedalism , skeleton (computer programming) , anatomy , lung , biology , paleontology , medicine
Due to a general, though undocumented, sense that little diagnostic information can be gleaned from them, ribs and overall thoracic morphology have been comparatively understudied relative to other anatomical regions in human paleontology. This pilot study tests the influence of skeletal thoracic shape on respiratory variables (e.g., total lung capacity, functional residual capacity, etc.) using computed tomography (CT), to expand our understanding of modern and Neandertal thoracic patterning. The mixed‐sex CT sample consists of 25 respiratorily normal subjects and 10 subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), all between the ages of 20 and 60. This homogenous, living CT sample is compared with a regionally heterogeneous, mixed‐sex skeletal sample from the extremes of human climatic distribution (n=48), as well as the Levantine Neandertal specimens Kebara 2 (original) and Tabun C1 (cast). Preliminary results suggest that, while gross spirometric measures, such as total lung capacity, agree well with the predicted model, further study is needed to delineate the skeletal parameters most amenable to comparison for such variables as functional residual capacity. Additionally, comparisons of the Levantine Neandertals with the modern sample fail to demonstrate any significant temporal excursion from the range of modern variability with respect to these parameters.