The male and female pelvises (Tel Aviv University)[Missing Credit]
It was led by professor Yoel Rak of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, with researchers from Spain, the Technion, Bar-Ilan University and Ono Academic College.
The team compared two nearly complete male Neanderthal pelvises with dozens of modern human pelvises.
One Neanderthal pelvis was found at Kebara Cave on Mount Carmel in northern Israel, while the other came from the Sima de los Huesos (“Pit of Bones”) site in northern Spain.
For decades, scientists have viewed the Neanderthal pelvis as unusual. The new study suggests that it may instead have retained an ancestral form also found in modern human females, while the modern human male pelvis underwent significant evolutionary changes.
The key difference involves the hip joints. In modern human males, the joints are positioned farther forward than in modern human females and male Neanderthals.
The Neanderthal pelvis (Tel Aviv University)[Missing Credit]
According to the researchers, this shift created a natural shock-absorbing system. As a person walks upright, the body’s centre of mass moves downward with each step.
The thigh muscles absorb some of this movement, storing energy and releasing it to help propel the body into the next step.
The researchers say this system may reduce the energy required for walking, particularly over long distances.
Professor Yoel Rak (Tel Aviv University)[Missing Credit]
The shift also resulted in a thicker pubic bone and a deeper front section of the male pelvis, helping it withstand additional forces.
The researchers say the female pelvis could not undergo the same changes because childbirth requires a relatively shallow pelvis and a birth canal wide enough for a baby to pass through.
As a result, it remained closer to the ancestral form also seen in male Neanderthals.
“Understanding the evolution of our walking mechanism can contribute to contemporary research in biomechanics, musculoskeletal medicine, rehabilitation, and injury prevention,” said professor Ella Been of Israel’s Ono Academic College.
“The perspective provided by the Neanderthals helps us better understand the modern human body.”
