All mammals are descended from a common ancestor and, consequently, their bones share similar morphological features. The same bones are present, but will differ in appearance depending on what functions they carry out. The primary difference in these bones is size. Approximately 30% of forensic investigations involve non-human bones which have been mistakenly identified as human remains, so it is important for a Forensic Anthropologist to be able to recognise these differences and use this knowledge to determine whether a specimen is human or not.
POST-CRANIAL MORPHOLOGY
Non-human mammals are typically quadrupedal in nature. In quadrupeds, it is seen that the humerus, radius and ulna are more robust and this is because they have been designed to withstand the full weight of an animal’s body. Humans, however, are bipeds and the bones of their arms are designed for rotation rather than support. Because of this, the biped arm bones, are more slender than their quadrupedal counterparts. …show more content…
For humans, this is the first bone to make contact with the ground during walking. In this process the entire weight of the human torso is distributed onto one foot at a time and the calcaneus is subjected to quite high forces. For this reason, the calcaneus of a human is large and robust, in fact it is the largest bone in the human foot.
Chimpanzees are facultative bipeds. They are called this because they retain the ability to move quadrupedally even after they begin to move bipedally. When moving in a quadrupedal manner, the weight of the Chimpanzee is distributed equally between two limbs (one fore limb and one hind limb). The force on the calcaneus is reduced, allowing the bone to be smaller in a Chimpanzee (Maga et al,
POST-CRANIAL MORPHOLOGY
Non-human mammals are typically quadrupedal in nature. In quadrupeds, it is seen that the humerus, radius and ulna are more robust and this is because they have been designed to withstand the full weight of an animal’s body. Humans, however, are bipeds and the bones of their arms are designed for rotation rather than support. Because of this, the biped arm bones, are more slender than their quadrupedal counterparts. …show more content…
For humans, this is the first bone to make contact with the ground during walking. In this process the entire weight of the human torso is distributed onto one foot at a time and the calcaneus is subjected to quite high forces. For this reason, the calcaneus of a human is large and robust, in fact it is the largest bone in the human foot.
Chimpanzees are facultative bipeds. They are called this because they retain the ability to move quadrupedally even after they begin to move bipedally. When moving in a quadrupedal manner, the weight of the Chimpanzee is distributed equally between two limbs (one fore limb and one hind limb). The force on the calcaneus is reduced, allowing the bone to be smaller in a Chimpanzee (Maga et al,