Dissertation Research: Comparative Micro-CT Analysis of Trabecular Architecture in Anthropoids

寻找运动行为的骨骼相关性是解释灵长目化石运动模式的重要条件。在过去的15年里，身体的一个区域受到了很多关注，那就是股骨近端。研究表明，股骨颈皮质骨结构反映了运动过程中重复性、刻板负荷的程度。然而，广泛的比较研究表明，运动行为和股骨结构之间的更精确的联系是无法建立的（例如，区分两足动物和四足动物），这一结果影响了早期人类进化史的重建。定性比较证据表明，相对于皮质壳，内部结构或骨小梁更能敏感地反映股骨颈的机械环境，从而反映动物的运动行为。小梁骨由微米大小的支柱组成，形成复杂的三维晶格，需要高分辨率的三维x射线成像方法来充分研究它。这项研究将首次将新引入的微型计算机断层扫描技术用于研究非人灵长类动物股骨近端小梁结构的变异。建筑变异将在6种不同运动模式的类人猿灵长类动物样本中进行研究。本研究的两个主要目的是：(1)定量记录运动行为相似和对比的灵长类动物股骨近端小梁结构的变化；(2)通过对活体灵长类动物的研究，确定股骨近端小梁结构的研究是否有助于重建古人类和非古人类灵长类动物的运动行为。

Finding bony correlates of locomotor behavior is an important requisite for interpreting the locomotor modes of fossil primates. One region of the body that has received much attention in the last fifteen years is the proximal femur. Research suggests that the cortical bone structure of the femoral neck reflects the degree of repetitive, stereotypical loading during locomotion. Broad comparative studies, however, indicate that more precise associations between locomotor behavior and femoral structure can not be made (e.g., distinguish bipedalism from quadrupedalism), a result that impacts reconstructions of early hominid evolutionary history. Qualitative comparative evidence suggests that the internal architecture, or trabecular bone, as opposed to the cortical shell, is a more sensitive reflection of the femoral neck's mechanical environment and, hence, an animal's locomotor behaviors. Trabecular bone consists of micrometer-sized struts that form complex three-dimensional lattices and a high-resolution, three-dimensional X-ray imaging method is necessary to adequately study it. This study will be the first to incorporate newly introduced micro-computed tomography technology to the study of variation in the trabecular architecture of the non-human primate proximal femur. Architectural variation will be studied in a sample of six anthropoid primates that differ in their locomotor modes. The two primary objectives of this study are: (1) to document quantitatively the variation in trabecular architecture of the proximal femur among primates of similar and contrasting locomotor behaviors, and, (2) to determine from research on living primates whether trabecular architectural studies of the proximal femur can contribute to reconstructions of fossil hominid and non-hominid primate locomotor behaviors.