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3D muscle reconstruction confirms that Lucy, the ancestor of humans 3.2 million years ago, could walk upright.

2025-01-18 Update From: SLTechnology News&Howtos shulou NAV: SLTechnology News&Howtos > IT Information >

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CTOnews.com, June 14 (Xinhua) A researcher at the University of Cambridge used digital technology to reconstruct the muscle structure of an early human ancestor for the first time and found that the creature could walk upright like us, a study published in the journal Open Science of the Royal Society.

Researcher Dr. Ashley Weisman used Lucy's scan data to reconstruct the lower limb and pelvic muscles of the 3.2 million-year-old Australopithecus. Australopithecus is an early human species living in East Africa. They are shorter than us, have ape-like faces and smaller brains, but can walk on two legs and adapt to the living environment of trees and grasslands. Helped this species survive for nearly 1 million years.

Lucy, one of the most complete fossils of Australopithecus, was found in Ethiopia in the mid-1970s, with 40% of its bones preserved. Using published data on the fossil Lucy in recent years, Dr. Weisman created a three-dimensional model of the lower body muscle structure of this ancient human ancestor.

Dr Weisman reconstructed 36 muscles in each leg and found that most of Lucy's muscles were much larger than in modern humans and took up more space in the legs. For example, Lucy's calves and thighs are more than twice as large as modern humans because we have a much higher proportion of fat and muscle. 74% of Lucy's thighs are muscle, compared with 50% in humans.

Paleoanthropologists all think that Lucy walks on two feet, but they have different views on the way she walks. Some people think that she walks like a chimpanzee, stooping and staggering, while others think that her way of walking is closer to our upright walking. Research over the past 20 years has begun to form a consensus: "Lucy" walks upright. Dr. Weisman's work provides further support for this view, and Lucy's knee extensors and the leverage they provide confirm that she can straighten her knees like a healthy person.

"Lucy's ability to walk upright can only be judged by rebuilding the path and space occupied by muscles inside the body," Dr. Weisman said. We are now the only animals that can stand upright and straighten our knees.' Lucy's muscles show that she is as good at walking on two feet as we are, and may also be good at living in trees.' Lucy may walk and move in a way that we haven't seen today. "

Dr Weisman said: "Australopithecus lived in the open grasslands and denser forests of East Africa about 3 million to 4 million years ago. Lucy's muscle remodeling shows that she can make effective use of both habitats."

According to CTOnews.com, Lucy is a young adult who is just over one meter tall, weighs about 28 kilograms and has a brain about 1/3 of ours. To reconstruct the muscles of human ancestors, Dr. Weisman mapped "muscle pathways" and built digital musculoskeletal models by MRI and CT scans of the muscle and bone structures of modern women and men.

Dr Weisman then used existing virtual models of Lucy bones to "reconnect" the joints, that is, to reassemble the bones. This work identifies the axes on which each joint can move and rotate, replicating the way they move in life. Finally, under the guidance of a small number of "muscle scars (traces of muscle connections detected on fossilized bones)" that can be identified on modern human muscle pathways, muscles are superimposed layer upon layer.

"without open access to scientific data, this study would not have been possible," Dr. Weisman said. These reconstructions could help scientists understand how such human ancestors walked. Muscle remodeling has been used to estimate the running speed of dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, and by applying similar techniques to human ancestors, we want to reveal the scope of the physical movements that drove our evolution, including the abilities we have lost. "

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