Stw 441/465: a new fragmentary ilium of a small-bodied Australopithecus africanus from Sterkfontein, South Africa.
In 1986 and 1987, a hominid left ilium fragment consisting of a spina iliaca anterior superior and crista iliaca was discovered during excavations at Sterkfontein, South Africa. Although the specimen is small it gives valuable hints for muscle insertions and origins at the pelvis of Australopithecus africanus. It indicates that the anatomy of the abdominal muscles and of the mm. glutei medius et minimus of A. africanus was quite different from that of the great apes and more similar to that of modern humans. This has major implications for the interpretation of the bipedalism and locomotor efficiency of the early South African hominids.
Häusler
M
M
Anthropologisches Institut, Universität Zürich, Switzerland
Berger
L
L
D000818:Animals; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007085:Ilium / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013019:South Africa