Overview
- The study, published July 31 in Scientific Reports, directly compared two near-complete Neanderthal pelvises (Kebara 2 and a Sima de los Huesos specimen) with 63 modern male and 28 modern female pelvises.
- Authors found that in several key measures male Neanderthal pelvises more closely match modern human female pelvises than modern human male pelvises.
- The main anatomical difference is the position of the acetabula, or hip sockets, which sit farther forward in modern human males and farther back in Neanderthals and modern females.
- The team proposes the forward acetabula in modern men may let thigh muscles store and return energy each step, acting like a shock-absorbing system that could lower the energy cost of long-distance walking, but they present this as a testable hypothesis rather than a proven mechanism.
- The paper notes limited Neanderthal sexual dimorphism and stresses that the sample includes only two Neanderthal pelves, so the finding has implications for biomechanics, rehabilitation, and robotics but requires more fossils and biomechanical tests to confirm evolutionary timing and functional benefits.