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Hi! I'm Delaney Edwards and I am very excited about what this class has in store!

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The obturator externus groove and bipedality

There are several indicators of bipedality in modern humans and their ancestors, some of which are not easily noticed or known by those who are not experts in the field.  The obturator externus groove is one of these features. This groove is located on the back of the femoral neck and serves as an attachment area for the obturator externus tendon, which runs from the back of the thigh to the front of the pelvis. The o bturator externus serves as a flexor and external rotator of the thigh, shortening the distance between the pelvis and the femur, which helps to steady the hip joint.  In bipeds, this tendon creates a groove by applying pressure to the back of the femoral neck as a result of frequent full extension of the femur. As pressure is placed onto the neck of the femur, the bone remodels itself to accommodate the tendon.  Apes are naturally knucklewalkers but sometimes use bipedal locomotion. Even so, there is little to no pressure produced on the femur from this t...
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Understanding Ardipithecus ramidus

The analysis of Ardipithecus ramidus has produced a plethora of new information about the lifestyle of early hominids. For example, scientists have noticed that the anatomy of Ardipithecus ramidus  suggests that the last common ancestors of humans and African apes were not as similar to chimpanzees as most people have previously thought. In the paper, Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids, White et al. state that "most aspects of the craniofacial structure of Sahelanthropus/Ardipithecus are probably close to the African ape and hominid ancestral state." We also know that Ardipithecus was most likely an omnivore. The dentition shows no strong signs of "ripe-fruit frugivory, folivory-herbivory, or feeding on hard objects...wear patterns suggest that its diet was not particularly abrasive but may have included some hard foods." This nutritional pattern can also indicate what type of locomotion was most commonly used, as some foods are more commonl...
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29 May 2020: Decolonizing Paleoanthropology

Dunsworth, Sterling, and Athreya and Ackermann have done great work at bringing to light the issue of colonial mindsets in modern anthropological research in their respective fields and articles. Athreya and Ackermann specifically mention the concept of "otherization," or the process of marginalizing and devaluing concepts having to due with minority populations. This is a word I had never heard about until their article, Colonialism and Narratives of Human Origins in Asia and Africa, and a word that I think is very helpful in explaining the way that minority, or non-white, populations are treated and more specifically the way that their narratives and experiences are put on the back burner to be ignored and forgotten about.  I also believe that it is incredibly unfortunate that many people in science have retained the colonialist mindset without even knowing it. It is something that can be drilled into people, starting when they are kids and continuing throughout their entir...
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