Perimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of tall tree
Perimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of tall tree
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DOI：
10.1038/nature19332
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发表时间：
2016-09-22
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Witzel, Adrienne
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kappelman, John;Ketcham, Richard A.;Witzel, Adrienne
上新世化石“Lucy”(南方古猿)于1974年在埃塞俄比亚的阿法尔地区被发现，是已发现的最古老、最完整的古人类骨骼化石之一。在此，我们提出，在对她的骨骼进行仔细研究的基础上，她的死因是从相当高的高度坠落后发生的垂直减速事件或撞击，导致多个骨骼元素发生压缩和铰链(绿点)骨折。严重到导致骨折的撞击通常也会损害内脏；这些损伤一起被认为是导致她死亡的原因。露西一直处于一场激烈辩论的中心，这场辩论是关于树栖运动在早期人类进化中的作用(如果有的话)。因此，具有讽刺意味的是，她的死亡可以归因于坠落造成的伤害，很可能是从高大的树上摔下来的，从而为该物种存在树生现实主义提供了不同寻常的证据。
The Pliocene fossil `Lucy' (Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered in the Afar region of Ethiopia in 1974 and is among the oldest and most complete fossil hominin skeletons discovered. Here we propose, on the basis of close study of her skeleton, that her cause of death was a vertical deceleration event or impact following a fall from considerable height that produced compressive and hinge (greenstick) fractures in multiple skeletal elements. Impacts that are so severe as to cause concomitant fractures usually also damage internal organs; together, these injuries are hypothesized to have caused her death. Lucy has been at the centre of a vigorous debate about the role, if any, of arboreal locomotion in early human evolution. It is therefore ironic that her death can be attributed to injuries resulting from a fall, probably out of a tall tree, thus offering unusual evidence for the presence of arborealism in this species.