title: Morphology and function of the lumbar spine of the Kebara 2 Neandertal.
abstract: The morphology of the lumbar spine is crucial for upright posture and bipedal walking in hominids. The excellent preservation of the lumbar spine of Kebara 2 provides us a rare opportunity to observe a complete spine and explore its functionally relevant morphology. The lumbar spine of Kebara 2 is analyzed and compared with the lumbar spines of modern humans and late Pleistocene hominids. Although no size differences between the vertebral bodies and pedicles of Kebara 2 and modern humans are found, significant differences in the size and orientation of the transverse processes (L(1)-L(4)), and the laminae (L(5), S(1)) are demonstrated. The similarity in the size of the vertebral bodies and pedicles of Kebara 2 and modern humans suggests similarity in axial load transmission along the lumbar spine. The laterally projected (L(2)-L(4)) and the cranially oriented (L(1), L(3)) transverse processes of Kebara 2 show an advantage for lateral flexion of the lumbar spine compared with modern humans. The characteristic morphology of the lumbar spine of Kebara 2 might be related to the wide span of its pelvic bones.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. beenella@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Ella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Been
authors.forename: Smadar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peleg
authors.forename: Assaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marom
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barash
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D000886:Anthropometry; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male