Spinal Evolution
Spinal Evolution

Author: Ella Been

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-08-07

Total Pages: 407

ISBN-13: 3030193497

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The vertebral spine is a key element of the human anatomy. Its main role is to protect the spinal cord and the main blood vessels. The axial skeleton, with its muscles and joints, provides stability for the attachment of the head, tail and limbs and, at the same time, enables the mobility required for breathing and for locomotion. Despite its great importance, the vertebral spine is often over looked by researchers because: a) vertebrae are fragile in nature, which makes their fossilization a rare event; b) they are metameric (seriated and repeated elements) that make their anatomical determination and, thus, their subsequent study difficult; and c) the plethora of bones and joints involved in every movement or function of the axial skeleton makes the reconstruction of posture, breathing mechanics and locomotion extremely difficult. It is well established that the spine has changed dramatically during human evolution. Spinal curvatures, spinal load transmission, and thoracic shape of bipedal humans are derived among hominoids. Yet, there are many debates as to how and when these changes occurred and to their phylogenetic, functional, and pathological implications. In recent years, renewed interest arose in the axial skeleton. New and exciting finds, mostly from Europe and Africa, as well as new methods for reconstructing the spine, have been introduced to the research community. New methodologies such as Finite Element Analysis, trabecular bone analysis, Geometric Morphometric analysis, and gait analysis have been applied to the spines of primates and humans. These provide a new and refreshing look into the evolution of the spine. Advanced biomechanical research regarding posture, range of motion, stability, and attenuation of the human spine has interesting evolutionary implications. Until now, no book that summarizes the updated research and knowledge regarding spinal evolution in hominoids has been available. The present book explores both these new methodologies and new data, including recent fossil, morphological, biomechanical, and theoretical advances regarding vertebral column evolution. In order to cover all of that data, we divide the book into four parts: 1) the spine of hominoids; 2) the vertebral spine of extinct hominins; 3) ontogeny, biomechanics and pathology of the human spine; and 4) new methodologies of spinal research. These parts complement each other and provide a wide and comprehensive examination of spinal evolution.

The Evolution of the Vertebral Column
The Evolution of the Vertebral Column

Author: H. F. Gadow

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-01-02

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 1107633389

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Originally published in 1933, this book is a culmination of a lifetime of research by Hans Friedrich Gadow into the evolution of the vertebrae. Gadow outlines the various forms of vertebral development as a guide to larger and more general questions on the morphological scheme of the evolution of vertebrate creatures, and uses plentiful diagrams, photographs and reconstructions to trace spinal development. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of science.

Minimally Invasive Spinal Deformity Surgery
Minimally Invasive Spinal Deformity Surgery

Author: Michael Y. Wang

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2014-01-17

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 3709114071

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Contemporary spinal surgeons, whether orthopedic or neurosurgeons, are increasingly recognizing minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) as a desirable option to manage advanced degenerative diseases. MISS techniques minimize blood loss, surgical site pain, and speed recovery. Thus, the marriage of MISS with adult spinal deformity was a natural one. Currently, the techniques, technologies, and education of surgeons have finally reached a point where MISS deformity surgeries are becoming commonplace. Nevertheless, the field is young enough that no comprehensive texts have addressed the unique challenges faced by surgeons exploring this evolving field. This book will fill the gap.

Spinal Catastrophism
Spinal Catastrophism

Author: Thomas Moynihan

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-12-03

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1913029638

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The historical continuity of spinal catastrophism, traced across multiform encounters between philosophy, psychology, biology, and geology. Drawing on cryptic intimations in the work of J. G. Ballard, Georges Bataille, William Burroughs, André Leroi-Gourhan, Elaine Morgan, and Friedrich Nietzsche, in the late twentieth century Daniel Barker formulated the axioms of spinal catastrophism: If human morphology, upright posture, and the possibility of language are the ramified accidents of natural history, then psychic ailments are ultimately afflictions of the spine, which itself is a scale model of biogenetic trauma, a portable map of the catastrophic events that shaped that atrocity exhibition of evolutionary traumata, the sick orthograde talking mammal. Tracing its provenance through the biological notions of phylogeny and “organic memory” that fueled early psychoanalysis, back into idealism, nature philosophy, and romanticism, and across multiform encounters between philosophy, psychology, biology, and geology, Thomas Moynihan reveals the historical continuity of spinal catastrophism. From psychoanalysis and myth to geology and neuroanatomy, from bioanalysis to chronopathy, from spinal colonies of proto-minds to the retroparasitism of the CNS, from “railway spine” to Elizabeth Taylor's lost gill-slits, this extravagantly comprehensive philosophical adventure uses the spinal cord as a guiding thread to rediscover forgotten pathways in modern thought. Moynihan demonstrates that, far from being an fanciful notion rendered obsolete by advances in biology, spinal catastrophism dramatizes fundamental philosophical problematics of time, identity, continuity, and the transcendental that remain central to any attempt to reconcile human experience with natural history.

Adult and Pediatric Spinal Deformities - Recent Advances and Evolution of Technologies
Adult and Pediatric Spinal Deformities - Recent Advances and Evolution of Technologies

Author: Mick Perez-Cruet

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2024-08-21

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 0854663533

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Written by renowned neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons, Adult and Pediatric Spinal Deformities - Recent Advances and Evolution of Technologies provides insights into the latest development of technologies and their application in managing both adult and pediatric spinal deformities. The primary goal of this book is to help the spine surgeons navigate a daunting number of available devices and modern techniques and leverage the latest technologies to achieve optimal patient outcomes. The text combines a thorough review of literature with expert experience to elucidate the advantages and capabilities of currently available techniques and instrumentation options.

Spinal Catastrophism
Spinal Catastrophism

Author: Thomas Moynihan

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-12-03

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1913029565

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The historical continuity of spinal catastrophism, traced across multiform encounters between philosophy, psychology, biology, and geology. Drawing on cryptic intimations in the work of J. G. Ballard, Georges Bataille, William Burroughs, André Leroi-Gourhan, Elaine Morgan, and Friedrich Nietzsche, in the late twentieth century Daniel Barker formulated the axioms of spinal catastrophism: If human morphology, upright posture, and the possibility of language are the ramified accidents of natural history, then psychic ailments are ultimately afflictions of the spine, which itself is a scale model of biogenetic trauma, a portable map of the catastrophic events that shaped that atrocity exhibition of evolutionary traumata, the sick orthograde talking mammal. Tracing its provenance through the biological notions of phylogeny and “organic memory” that fueled early psychoanalysis, back into idealism, nature philosophy, and romanticism, and across multiform encounters between philosophy, psychology, biology, and geology, Thomas Moynihan reveals the historical continuity of spinal catastrophism. From psychoanalysis and myth to geology and neuroanatomy, from bioanalysis to chronopathy, from spinal colonies of proto-minds to the retroparasitism of the CNS, from “railway spine” to Elizabeth Taylor's lost gill-slits, this extravagantly comprehensive philosophical adventure uses the spinal cord as a guiding thread to rediscover forgotten pathways in modern thought. Moynihan demonstrates that, far from being an fanciful notion rendered obsolete by advances in biology, spinal catastrophism dramatizes fundamental philosophical problematics of time, identity, continuity, and the transcendental that remain central to any attempt to reconcile human experience with natural history.

Evolution of the Hominoid Vertebral Column
Evolution of the Hominoid Vertebral Column

Author: Scott A. Williams

Publisher:

Published: 2012-09-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783659259609

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This is a study of the numerical composition of the vertebral column, the central structure of the vertebrate body plan and one that plays an instrumental role in locomotion and posture. Recent models of hominoid vertebral evolution invoke very different roles for homology and homoplasy in the evolution of vertebral formulae in living and extinct hominoids. These processes are fundamental to the emergence of morphological structures and reflect similarity by common descent (homology) or similarity by independent evolution (homoplasy). Although the "short backs," reflecting reduced lumbar regions, of living hominoids have traditionally been interpreted as homologies and shared derived characters (synapomorphies) of the ape and human clade, recent studies of variation in extant hominoid vertebral formulae have challenged this hypothesis. Instead, a "long-back" model, in which primitive, long lumbar regions are retained throughout hominoid evolution and are reduced independently in six lineages of modern hominoids, is proposed. The recently described skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus is interpreted to support the long-back model. Here, larger samples are collected and placed in a larger phylogenetic context than previous studies. Analyses of over 8,000 mammal specimens, representing all major groups and focusing on anthropoid primates, allow for the reconstruction of ancestral vertebral formulae throughout mammalian evolution and a determination of the uniqueness of hominoid vertebral formulae. This survey, in combination with analyses of intraspecific diversity and interspecific similarity, suggests that reduced lumbar regions are homologous in extant hominoids. Furthermore, hominoid vertebral formulae are unique among primates and relatively unique among mammals in general. Hominins likely evolved five lumbar vertebrae from a short-backed ancestor with an "African ape-like" vertebral profile. By the appearance of Australopithecus, hominins evolved a cranial placement of the diaphragmatic (one that bears a change in articular facet orientation) vertebra, which generates a functionally longer lower spine while maintaining five lumbar vertebrae. In light of these findings, it is proposed that bipedalism evolved in a party arboreal, partly terrestrial African ape-like locomotor context.

Triangulating the Evolution of the Vertebral Column in the Last Common Ancestor
Triangulating the Evolution of the Vertebral Column in the Last Common Ancestor

Author: Burt Alain Rosenman

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13:

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The primate vertebral skeleton has been studied intensively by morphologists for more than a century and has become a focal point of investigation in biological anthropology. However, several issues regarding vertebral homology and anatomy remain controversial. I collected metric and non-metric data on 392 cercopithecine and hominoid spines to answer the following questions: First, what is the homology of the lumbar transverse process (LTP) in catarrhines? Second, how many lumbar vertebrae do early hominids possess? Third, how do last rib length, LTP width, and sacral width covary in catarrhines? Methods included data collection by caliper measurement as well as statistical tests such as ANCOVA. I conclude that all catarrhine primates share a similar LTP homology, in which the LTP is composed of a rib element ventrally and derivative of the thoracic transverse process dorsally. Based on these findings, I show that the early hominid specimens Sts 14 and Stw 431 possessed a minimum of six functional lumbar vertebrae. In the metric comparisons, I find that humans have relatively short last ribs; that, in addition to their relatively narrow sacra, the African apes have narrow penultimate and ultimate lumbar vertebrae; and that the early hominids Sts 14 and AL 288-1 have the relatively widest LTPs and sacra of the taxa studied. Incorporating all these data, I present a model of hominoid lumbar vertebral evolution in which each of the great apes has independently evolved a short lumbar spine of three to four segments. Therefore, the long lumbar column of early hominids was most likely a primitive retention, and it is not derived as is commonly assumed.