title: How different are the Kebara 2 ribs to modern humans?
abstract: This study analyses rib geometric parameters of individual ribs of 14 modern human subjects (7 males and 7 females) in comparison to the reconstructed ribs of the Kebara 2 skeleton which was taken from the reconstruction of a Neandertal thorax by Sawyer & Maley (2005). Three-dimensional (3D) models were segmented from CT scans and each rib vertex cloud was placed into a local coordinate system defined from the rib principal axes. Rib clouds were then analysed using best fitting ellipses of the external contours of the cross-section areas. The centroid of each ellipse was then used to measure the centroidal pathway between each slice (rib midline). Curvature of the ribs was measured from the mid-line of the ribs as the sum of angles between successive centroids in adjacent cross sections. Distinct common patterns were noted in all rib geometric parameters for modern humans. The Kebara 2 reconstructed ribs also followed the same patterns. This study demonstrated that there are differences between the sexes in rib geometrical parameters, with females showing smaller rib width, chord length and arc length, but greater curvature (rib torsion, rib axial curvature, rib anterior-posterior bending) than males. The Kebara 2 reconstructed ribs were within the modern human range for the majority of geometrical parameters.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB),Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium; Operational Direction Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), 29 Rue Vautier, Bruxelles, 1000, Belgium, tchapman@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB),Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium; Laboratory of Functional Anatomy, Faculty of Motor Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB),Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium; Department of Applied Mathematics, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), 195251, Polytechnicheskaya, 29, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sholukha
authors.affiliation: Scientific Service Heritage, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), 29 Rue Vautier, Bruxelles, 1000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Semal
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB),Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium; Laboratory of Functional Anatomy, Faculty of Motor Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Feipel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB),Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Louryan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy, Biomechanics and Organogenesis, Faculty of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB),Lennik Street, 808, Erasme Campus, G2.4.101, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Sint Jan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D059552:Caves; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D059125:Neanderthals / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012272:Ribs / Q000033:anatomy & histology*