The sacrum articulates with last lumbar vertebra, and also with the pelvis at the sacroiliac joint. The shape of the sacroiliac joint is a reflection of the lumbar curve. The sacrum is relatively broad in modern humans with large sacroiliac joint surfaces. Modern chimpanzees have a relatively smaller sacroiliac joint surface. These size differences are related to the different patterns of weight transmission through the pelvis during quadrupedal and bipedal locomotion. The australopith sacrum has relatively large, but less curved sacroiliac joint than that seen in modern humans9.
The Australopithecus sacrum is broad, similar to |
The australopithecine sacrum is more curved |
eFossils is a collaborative website in which users can explore important fossil localities and browse the fossil digital library. If you have any problems using this site or have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.
Funding for eFossils was provided by the Longhorn Innovation Fund for Technology (LIFT) Award from the Research & Educational Technology Committee (R&E) of the IT governance structure at The University of Texas at Austin.