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Trabecular architecture of the hominoid carpus
Author(s) -
Kivell Tracy Lynne,
Skinner Matthew M,
Lazenby Richard,
Hublin JeanJacques
Publication year - 2011
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.25.1_supplement.183.7
Subject(s) - anatomy , postcrania , quadrupedalism , biology , bipedalism , extant taxon , carpal joint , pongo pygmaeus , hylobates , joint (building) , wrist , evolutionary biology , taxon , paleontology , zoology , architectural engineering , engineering
Trabecular bone is known to respond dynamically to changes in joint load and direction. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the potential functional signal in the trabecular structure within the carpal bones of extant non‐human hominoids. Trabeculae within the hand have rarely been studied in non‐human primates even though the hand is the direct link between the substrate and the rest of the body and likely carries a robust functional signal. The articulated hands of Pan, Gorilla, Pongo, Hylobates and Symphalangus were scanned to a resolution of 16–54μ using micro‐computed tomography. A volume of interest (VOI) scaled to carpal bone size was placed beneath the articular surfaces of carpals in the midcarpal joint. Trabecular architecture was quantified and visualized using CTan® and Avizo®. We hypothesized that carpal trabeculae of suspensory apes (Asian apes) would be clearly distinguished from that of more terrestrial, knuckle‐walking apes (African apes). We found that relative bone volume, degree of anisotropy, trabecular pattern and trabecular separation varied significantly across taxa but that the pattern of differences did not always follow the predicted functional pattern for all carpal bones. This research was funded by the Max Planck Society.