Neandertal postcrania
Synopsis: A quick explainer on the distinctive characters of Neandertal long bonesNeandertals were very robustly built. This means that they had relatively thick bones, with thick layers of cortical...
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Looking over a Neandertal's shoulder
A study by Di Vincenzo, Steven Churchill and Giorgio Manzi has fallen into the early drawer of the Journal of Human Evolution: "The Vindija Neanderthal scapular glenoid fossa: Comparative shape...
View ArticleHuman and ape feet
Synopsis: Laboratory exercise on the anatomical differences between human and ape toesAt this station, you'll find some articulated human feet. "Articulated" means that the bones are assembled together...
View ArticleInto the belly of the whale
Carl Zimmer profiles anatomist Joy Reidenberg, who has scored a coup for public communication of science on the BBC show, Inside Nature's Giants: "From Inside Lions and Leviathans, Anatomist Builds a...
View ArticleArt appreciation
Jonathan Jones muses on two exhibitions of Leonardo's work, one on paintings and the other on anatomical drawings ("Is Leonardo da Vinci a great artist or a great scientist?"): Yet every vein he draws...
View ArticleNeuron theory
Ferris Jabr has begun a series called "Know your neurons", which will be a tour of the types of neurons. The first installment ("Know Your Neurons: The Discovery and Naming of the Neuron") covers the...
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The pelvis of Australopithecus
Synopsis: Early hominins had a pelvic form adapted to bipedalityThe hominid pelvis is much shorter than ape pelves, with muscle attachments reoriented for effective walking.The most dramatic...
View ArticleMandibles of Neandertals and modern humans
Synopsis: Lab station presenting modern human and Neandertal mandibular featuresMany of the differences between Neandertals and modern humans can be found in the face and jaw. Neandertals had...
View ArticleMandibles of early Homo and robust australopithecines
Synopsis: A lab showing the variation of mandibles in early members of our genus.For anthropologists, Africa was a point of exceptional diversity between 2 million and 1.5 million years ago. In both...
View ArticleCreative anatomy
Mike Taylor from Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week shows how anatomists get creative with their measurement instruments: "How to measure necks using Duplo":I find the best way to get the neck...
View ArticleA quick start to the skeleton
Synopsis: A laboratory station giving a short introduction to the bones and major parts of the skeletonIn this course, you will be working extensively with skeletal anatomy. The skeleton provides the...
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A quick start on anatomical directions
Synopsis: A laboratory station helping to orient on directions in anatomy When talking about bones and teeth, we will need to use several terms to orient ourselves. Some of the terms are obvious, like...
View ArticleHow do primates move around?
Synopsis: Exploring the way that primate locomotion influences body plan and behavior.The diversification of the first primates from other early mammals took place partly because the ancestors of the...
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Laboratory inquiry 1: Outgroup
Synopsis: A laboratory station giving information about the skeleton of the mongoose lemurYour task in the first laboratory inquiry assignment is to develop a hypothesis about the anatomy of the common...
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The scapula and shoulder girdle
Synopsis: Laboratory station explaining the relation of the scapula to locomotor patternThe bones that make up the shoulder are the scapula, clavicle and humerus. The humerus is the upper arm bone,...
View ArticleThrowing out hypotheses about throwing
Neil Roach and colleagues have written a paper in Nature this week about the role of elastic energy storage in human throwing [1]. I like the paper. It has a lot of really nice quantification of...
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