Dissertation Research: Gross Morphology and Bone Density Patterns in the Knees of Catarrhine Primates with Differing Locomotor Behaviors

本项目研究了猴子、猿和人类膝关节骨密度模式的差异，目的是将这种差异与运动和后肢解剖结构联系起来。据预测，生活在不同栖息地（树栖与地栖），或适应不同运动模式（如四条腿与两条腿）的灵长类动物，其膝盖将承受不同的负荷模式。先前已经确定，基于CT扫描的灰度模式，关节表面的骨密度模式与该关节的载荷模式相关。这项技术将用于创建胫骨上部（胫骨）的骨密度等高线图，以试图深入了解灵长类动物膝盖的不同负荷模式。一旦发现运动行为、膝关节解剖和CT密度模式之间的相关性，就可以重建已灭绝的运动行为。通过检查人类和他们最近的亲属，这项研究也有助于研究人类膝关节现代病理的起源及其潜在的纠正。最后，这里使用的方法可以适用于对灵长类动物骨骼的各种关节表面进行类似的研究，从而扩大我们对运动对关节中力分布影响的认识。

This project examines differences in the bone density patterns at the knee joint in monkeys, apes, and humans with the goal of correlating such differences with locomotion and hindlimb anatomy. It is predicted that primates living in different habitats (trees-dwelling vs. ground-dwelling), or adapted to different locomotor modes (e.g., four-legged vs. two-legged), will subject their knees to different loading patterns. It has been previously determined that patterns of bone density on a joint surface, based on grey scale patterns in CT scans, are correlated with patterns of loading at that joint. This technique will be used to create bone density contour maps of the upper portion of the tibia (shin bone) in an attempt to gain insight into different loading patterns of the primate knee. Once correlations between locomotor behavior, knee anatomy, and CT density patterns are discovered, they will enable the reconstruction of extinct locomotor behaviors. By examining humans and their closest relatives, this research can also benefit studies on the origin of modern pathologies of the human knee and their potential corrections. Lastly, the methods used here can be adapted for conducting similar studies on a variety of joint surfaces in the primate skeleton, thereby expanding our knowledge of the effects of locomotion on the force distribution in joints.