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Human muscular variations: comparative, evolutionary and developmental perspectives
Author(s) -
Diogo Rui,
Wood Bernard
Publication year - 2010
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.24.1_supplement.61.4
Subject(s) - comparative anatomy , evolutionary biology , biology , myology , vertebrate , forelimb , human evolution , anatomy , genetics , gene
The anatomy of primates and other mammals has been the subject of numerous comparative studies. However, the vast majority of these studies deal with skeletal structures. The lack of detailed comparative works on the head, neck, pectoral and forelimb musculature of primates and their closest living relatives, i.e. tree‐shrews and colugos, creates difficulties in the discussion of subjects such as the evolution of primates, the origin of modern humans, and the peculiar muscular variations of both human and non‐human mammals. The main aim of the present work is to discuss human muscular variations in a broader comparative, evolutionary and developmental framework, based on our own dissections of numerous vertebrate specimens and on an extensive review of the literature. One of topics that will be explored in the talk is the relationship between ontogeny, genetics, and the so‐called (somewhat controversially) ‘muscular atavisms’.