Ribcage Measurements Indicate Greater Lung Capacity in Neanderthals and Lower Pleistocene Hominins Compared to Modern Humans

Overview

Journal Commun Biol

Specialty Biology

Date 2018 Oct 2

PMID 30271997

Citations 5

Authors

Daniel Garcia-Martinez

Nicole Torres-Tamayo

Isabel Torres-Sanchez

Francisco Garcia-Rio

Antonio Rosas

Markus Bastir

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Our most recent fossil relatives, the Neanderthals, had a large brain and a very heavy body compared to modern humans. This type of body requires high levels of energetic intake. While food (meat and fat consumption) is a source of energy, oxygen via respiration is also necessary for metabolism. We would therefore expect Neanderthals to have large respiratory capacities. Here we estimate the pulmonary capacities of Neanderthals, based on costal measurements and physiological data from a modern human comparative sample. The Kebara 2 male had a lung volume of about 9.04 l; Tabun C1, a female individual, a lung volume of 5.85 l; and a Neanderthal from the El Sidrón site, a lung volume of 9.03 l. These volumes are approximately 20% greater than the corresponding volumes of modern humans of the same body size and sex. These results show that the Neanderthal body was highly sensitive to energy supply.

Citing Articles

Sex Differences in Airway Remodeling and Inflammation: Clinical and Biological Factors.

Ekpruke C, Silveyra P Front Allergy. 2022; 3:875295.

PMID: 35769576 PMC: 9234861. DOI: 10.3389/falgy.2022.875295.

Early development of the Neanderthal ribcage reveals a different body shape at birth compared to modern humans.

Garcia-Martinez D, Bastir M, Gomez-Olivencia A, Maureille B, Golovanova L, Doronichev V Sci Adv. 2020; 6(41).

PMID: 33028520 PMC: 7541074. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb4377.

Rib cage anatomy in Homo erectus suggests a recent evolutionary origin of modern human body shape.

Bastir M, Garcia-Martinez D, Torres-Tamayo N, Palancar C, Beyer B, Barash A Nat Ecol Evol. 2020; 4(9):1178-1187.

PMID: 32632258 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1240-4.

The evolutionary history of the human face.

Lacruz R, Stringer C, Kimbel W, Wood B, Harvati K, OHiggins P Nat Ecol Evol. 2019; 3(5):726-736.

PMID: 30988489 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0865-7.

3D virtual reconstruction of the Kebara 2 Neandertal thorax.

Gomez-Olivencia A, Barash A, Garcia-Martinez D, Arlegi M, Kramer P, Bastir M Nat Commun. 2018; 9(1):4387.

PMID: 30377294 PMC: 6207772. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06803-z.

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