Doctoral Dissertation Research: Functional myology of the primate head and neck with implications for hominin evolution

人类具有独特的直立身体姿势和相关的解剖结构，但古生物学家不确定这些特征何时首次出现在古人类谱系中。本博士研究项目的目的是功能性描述灵长类动物颈部的解剖结构，以了解颈部差异与灵长类动物头部姿势、身体姿势和运动的关系。该项目将提供数据，用于推断类似人类的颈部首次出现的时间，以及这种解剖变化与环境、行为和生物因素的关系。本研究将采用三维解剖方法，包括CT扫描、数字肌束跟踪和生物力学建模，这将作为未来研究人员和卫生保健专业人员的培训工具。本研究生成的3D模型将用于K-12科学教育和讨论人体解剖学和灵长类动物保护的推广活动。本研究的目的是表征和量化具有不同习惯性身体姿势和运动行为的灵长类动物颈部肌肉解剖结构。利用生物力学框架，该项目将比较颈部肌肉组织的功能差异，颈部肌肉组织是悬空时支撑头部和手臂运动等行为的关键。包括对比增强计算机断层扫描、肌肉束跟踪软件和3D杠杆力学在内的新技术将用于开发生物力学模型，以了解肌肉大小、形状和分布的变化如何与灵长类动物的姿势和运动行为相关。这些生物力学模型将应用于古人类化石（南方古猿sediba和尼安德特人）来解释他们的颈部解剖和姿势，以更准确地理解和重建他们的行为。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Humans have unique upright body posture and related anatomy, but paleontologists are not certain when these features first appeared in the hominin lineage. The aim of this doctoral research project is to functionally describe the anatomy of the primate neck to understand how differences in the neck are related to head posture, body posture, and locomotion in primates. The project will provide data that may be used for inferring when a human-like neck first appeared and how this anatomical change was associated with environmental, behavioral and biological factors. This study will employ a combination of 3D anatomical methods including CT scanning, digital muscle fascicle tracking, and biomechanical modeling, which will serve as training tools for future researchers and health care professionals. The 3D models generated in this study will be used in K-12 science education and outreach events for discussing human anatomy and primate conservation.The objective of this study is to both characterize and quantify neck muscle anatomy in primates with different habitual body postures and locomotor behaviors. Using a biomechanical framework, the project will compare functional differences in neck musculature that are key for behaviors such as holding up the head and movement of the arms during suspension. Novel techniques including contrast-enhanced computed tomography, muscle fascicle tracking software, and 3D lever mechanics will be used to develop biomechanical models of how variation in muscle size, shape, and distribution is related to postural and locomotor behavior across primates. These biomechanical models will be applied to fossil hominins (Australopithecus sediba and Homo neanderthalensis) to interpret their neck anatomy and posture to more accurately understand and reconstruct their behaviors.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.