Osteology - Science topic

Hi Pan!

Macropetalichthyidae is definitely used in

Eastman, C. R. 1902. Devonian fish fauna of Iowa. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XIII

On the other hand, like you pointed out, Macropetalichthyidae is attributed to

Eastman, Charles R. 1898. Some new points in Dinichthyid osteology. Amer. Naturalist xxxii pp. 747-768

This attribution is as early as 1902, in a bulletin from the US Geological survey:

I can't see any use of the name Macropetalichthyidae in "Some new points in Dinichthyid osteology", but he does discuss the need to establish a new family to hold some forms that are sufficiently distinct from Coccosteus. I'm guessing this refers to Macropetalichthyidae, although it's not explicit...

There is one additional 1898 publication that I can't access:

Eastman, Charles R. 1898. On the occurrence of fossil fishes in the Devonian of Iowa. Iowa Geol. Surv. vii pp. 108-116

Maybe this only added more confusion, in which case I'm sorry!

Cheers

/daniel

In our research, we found that Bisphosphonates increased oral bone volume in osteogenesis imperfecta. These findings corroborate with the findings in the medical field about the increase in bone volume with bisphosphonate treatment.

Following any means to treat OA. Strengthening of the quadriceps muscles goes a long way.

Я определяю эти кости как Anura: строение их у современных представителей из Восточной Европы очень сходно. Иногда кажется, что какие-то конкретные кости более вероятно относятся к тому или другому семейству, но я не могу объяснить это морфологическими особенностями.

An additional possibility is microCT.  Vasculature patterns can be used to indicate human versus, say, artiodactyl bone.  If you have nanoCT, and can visualize the distribution and number of osteocyte lacunae, this is also a very effective way of determining the probability that the bone was from a human or not.

Joseph:

Have a look at this link for important insights:

Best

Syed

Thank you Tiago 

really, this article is useful

There are multiple ways, most rely on contextual clues.

Analysis of cut- marks can indicate whether people were butchered or defleshed. Comparison of the treatment of human remains with animal remains from the same site can increase confidence that the butchery was geared towards the consumption of people.

Similarly, the degree of burning of human bones can be recorded and compared to how animal remains from the same context were treated.

Damage/polish patterns indicative of boiling in pots are sometimes present on human bones, indicating cooking of some sort.

I guess the only way to really definitively prove cannibalism is from the analysis of human tissue in human coprolites.

One of the landmark works on the identification of cannibalism from bone assemblages is: 

White, T.D., 1992: Prehistoric Cannibalism at Mancos 5MTUMR-2346, Princeton University Press.

...just out of interest, I have also just ordered a copy of this book, which looks like it has some interesting chapters on limb development and evolution in humans. I obviously haven't read it yet, but it might also be of interest to you:

Lichens substitute in manganese oxide.  That may be worth investigating further.  We have had this experience on fossil bones from South African cave sites.  

Recently saw one of my old operated case (14yrs ago) with acute onset of pain & increasing deformity (valgus) of the right knee for the last 3 months. Suggestions, please?

Roopashree Talanki ; first of all ,when we are dealing with a victim of a crime ` the real cause of death` requires full autopsy without a single exception . The circumstances that causes ultimate death could be `multiple and simultaneous and could equally contribute to the death` . The nature of injuries in a given crime victim can be stabbing , blunt force , strangulation, drowning even poisoning at the same time ` .

So in this case near Sternal intercostal penetrating Chest Stabbing(s ) themselves -together or individually - not necessarily cause death of an individual UNLESS it directly contributes to direct cardiac injury with cardiac tamponade and or great vessel injury, large pneumothorax or large hemothorax . Seeing the multiple ` only skin` penetrating stab wound(s) around the sternum per se NOT NECESSARILY mean those stabbings are `penetrating deep enough to reach the vital structures` lungs,great vessels or heart`. Even they penetrate through the chest wall documented through – testing by probing the wound itself – simply because not every penetrating chest wound cause vital injury at all - . So those parasternal stab wounds at the skin may be coincidental and misleading , the actual events that leading to ultimate death may well include , fall from a height –before or after the stabbing- or even jumping from height after the initial non fetal stabbing around the sternum . The instrument used at the crime –if exist and found- that presumably caused the injury helps to connect the dots of the circumstances . This instrument`s authenticity that it was actually used at this crime without any reasonable doubt has to be confirmed too .

As I stated earlier first and most you need `Full and comprehensive autopsy` including comprehensive toxicology screen as well as total body CAT scan . To determine each and every injury at the victim and extend of injuries in detail .

The best answer for the court and the jury is `I need full and comprehensive autopsy` and `I can NOT answer whether wound around the parasternal skin actually contributed to death of that individual` as well as coincidental spine injury . He/ She might have other injuries as well . Cervical , thoracic or lumbar spine injuries are very frequently seen among crime victims no matter what actually caused their ultimate death , simply because of `physical violence as well as fear and flight `reactions and jumping from height as well as blunt force and penetrating injuries ALL COEXIST at the crime victim . All of these facts I listed are based on my personal experience as Chief Surgical Resident in dealing with clinical Surgical Trauma victims at a South Bronx New York Major Trauma Center as well as 37 years of uninterrupted Clinical Practice in Emergency Medicine in the States . Do NOT make any `prejudicial statement to a Jury of lay people` before you having the full knowledge of the circumstances that ultimately caused death of the victim , most of the time the Jury members will misunderstand what you have said even do not understand or comprehend what you mean or said to them . That is the reality . Best luck for you .

Unfortunately, I do not know of such publication. I can give email to Paul Wojtala. He is an employee of the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow

Best wishes

The important question porbably is, what means maturity. Is it sexual maturity (in the sense of fertile germ cells or as age at first reproduction) or is it skeletal maturity (in the sense of all or most epiphyses fusing or even completely fused). Often the second is taken as a proxy for the first. In ungulates this can be quite variable. Like sheep ewes that can be inseminated under favorable consitions as early as with 7 month. We are curating a collection of skulls and parts of the postcranium of Soay sheep with known age-at-death. Some epiphyses show signs of fusion in the course of the second year. In the third year all epiphyses start fusing and show last remnants up to the beginning of the fourth year. Fusion of the basioccipital to the basisphenoid is occuring in the second year of life. So in these creatures this fusion is somewaht inbetween (potential) sexual maturity and skeletal maturity. I would expect it to vary considerably between other genera and even more between orders.

Dear Cătălin,

From what I could find on a quick search on the Internet, I understand that L. pygmaeus is a species currently found only near the Danube in the area of Giurgiu (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/156068/0).

It may be possible that the species had a larger geographic range in the past, but, just in case it didn't, I suggest you also look for information on ornaments made from other Lythoglyphus species, as close comparison material.

For example, L. naticoides was used in prehistoric times for making ornaments. Here's a paper that can get you started:

Apparently, a L. naticoides necklacewas also found in Romania:

My answer was toward tibial distal end exostosis-malleolus. If you mean ear ossciles, then it is not occupational,  but to pathological or even traumatic osteosclerosis.

Previously I often do culture osteoclast from mice bone marrow in femur. It seems that I do this experiment different from you. I attached a protocol for you. Good lucky!

Owen is a good address: He published the book Odontography in 1840-1845. Two books with Odontology in the titles are:

Peyer B (1968) Comparative Odontology. Univ Press Chicago

Keil A (1966) Grundzüge der Odontologie. Borntraeger Berlin

Best wishes Kurt

Totally agree with Raju Vaishya and Panayot Tanchev... Wedge osteotomy, extended curettage and fixation but real need to preserve head vascularization. Do we have any informations about it? My preference would be GAMMA Nail at his age

Thank you very much Sir.

Is also a bit risky to use footprint since some camel breeds have big feet but small bodies. By the way front feet are larger then rear feet (65% of the body weight is in front). It is also important to establish the sex of the specimen since male camels are considerably larger the female camels and 29% higher values may be simply bones of males individuals. The geology of the area, in the time period when the fossils was living, should be known since camels of hilly areas are never very tall (1.7-1.8 m fem, 2 m males) while camels of flat areas, like the one in the picture, tend to be very tall   

Hi Ruth!

Indeed BD do not produce them for years now, Corning however do.

Corning Osteoassay is available in plates and strips and works like magic. We use it a lot. If you need help with the protocol please do not hesitate to contact.

The other way includes cow teeth, a manual saw, a radial saw (the blade for which is like 500$), a hole punch and a lot of work... If you prefer this way let me know.

 Thank you very much for your help, Ariana.

Healing of a fracture is generally not delayed but there are probably exceptions to this.

Dear Marta,

There is an article in 2007 by Sébastien Lepetz (French National Center for Scientific Studies) about oyster's trade and consumption in during the Gallo-Roman Period. I found the pdf on his personal website (see the link). There is a lot of french bibliography in this article, with references of the archeological data.

Schneider, M, et al. (2007), 'L'exploitation, la commercialisation et la consommation des huîtres à l'époque romaine en Gaule. Origine géographique et source d'approvisionnement des huîtres du Vieil-Evreux et de Chartres.', in E. Ridel, E. Barré, and A. Zysberg (eds.), Publication des actes du colloque "Les nourritures de la mer, de la criée à l'assiette. Colloque de TATIHOU organisé par la S.F.H.M du 2 au 4 octobre 2003 (4; Caen: Centre de Recherche d'Histoire Quantitative, Histoire Maritime), 12-34.

Best regards,

Christian

In spite of the "bone erosion" in case of a Tarlov cyst enlargement, pathological fractures of the sacrum are very rare, if ever.

dear sir,

it was documented that trauma to the growth centers subsequently sometimes lead to different degrees of growth affection starting from slowing to complete secession. in case of mandible the trauma to condylar growth center is almost always indirect meaning that one end of the bone receive the trauma and the other end affected. the maximum force transmitted to the growth center of the condyle occurs after anterior part of the mandible[symphyseal trauma] even if no fracture resulted. the body and angle have less transmitted force to the condyle but when the direction of trauma was at the inferior border great force will be transmitted to the condyle and affection resulted[your case] beside growth cession the case may undergo ankylosis later on due to joint haematoma.

Atef Fouda,

Prof Oral&Maxillofacial Surgery,

Cairo University,

Egypt.    

Thank you Steven, I found a newspaper article about the woman but no relevant publication. I'll keep looking!

This paper by Reddi and Huggins from 1972 has the complete protocol that was similar to what Marshal Urist used at UCLA in 1965.

Kenneth, thanks for the interest in our paper, it's nice knowing people are reading it :)

Juan Francisco, we found little previous structural work on Xiphias, and it was typically either shown via hand drawings or in individual histological images where it was hard to understand how the tissue structure fit into the context of the whole bill.  Still, some of those previous studies were really useful starting points for us - we ended up citing them mostly in the supplemental information of the paper, here is a version with that attached.

Best wishes,

Mason

Given the chemical make-up of ceramic / porcelain drill bits one would have thought it is the other way 'round. The only way I can think of a metal drill bit changing the 18O signature of bone or tooth bioapatite would be through heat stress (too much pressure being applied while drilling or drill set to too high a speed or both).  In all my work we have always used diamond-tipped drill bits in concjunction with a variable-speed dental drill.  If the correlation we got between bioapatite 18O and source water 18O is anything to go by, this combination of tools (and using a moderate drill speed) does not cause any 18O artefacts.  BTW, if you do not have a dental drill (with foot pedal for speed control) buy one; it is worth it.  However, do not purchase an NHS-for-human-dentistry approved model since they are beastly expensive. Look for a dental drill in veterinary supplies companies.  What they sell is exactly the same article (sometimes even from the same Swiss manufacturer) but at a fraction of the cost what NHS supplies companies charge.

Eburnation is typically indicative of osteoarthritis. The aetiology of OA is multifactorial. Women are especially vulnerable to the condition post menopause due to the hormonal changes. It is also associated with load bearing joints - so perhaps this suggests strenuous physical activity on behalf of the individual, particularly through this area of the foot.

As for the actual polishing of the bone, it is caused by the breakdown and eventual loss of the cartilage of the joint. Osteoblasts then respond by depositing subchondral bone (sclerosis), which eventually leads to bone-to-bone contact. This produces the polished effect you can seen on the joint surface.

Before the advent of easy genotyping, phenotypic distances (such as you suggest) have been used to estimate relatedness between populations. However, a 1997 paper by Burstin and Charcosset (see link) showed that there exists a triangular relationship between genetic and phenotypic distances: Short genetic distances are associated with short phenotypic distances, but long genetic distances are associated with a wide range of phenotypic distance. In other words: Phenotypic distances are not all that predictive of genetic distances.

I agree with @Pedro: If possible use some type of genetic markers to infer relatedness or genetic distance.

Image for Catherine and Mandana !

Hi. The superomedial one is the optic canal and the other one is superior orbital fissure. These are normal anatomy.

Yes, one case to be published in Acta Med Adriatica very soon (accepted, in print)...

Hi Catherine,

I have some x-ray and ct-scan of roman mummies if it interest you. I think that in the Vatican Laboratories they could have records of x-ray of egyptian mummies because have a discrete collection of their.

M

Or, if you can give me your email address...

Mine is algilb@gmail.com

If the subolfactory process is the same thing as ventrolateral process (see the attached image 1), than I think that parolfactory bulb recess is not the subolfactory process. I guess that paired parolfactory bulb recesses should be the depressions on the medial sides of ventrolateral processes that indicates olfactory bulb.

But than there should be the space between the olfactory bulb and frontal? (image 3) What for?

My drawings of frontal sections are correct?

In mosasaurs olfactory canal not embraced ventrally by ventrolateral processes (0); or canal almost or completely enclosed below (1) (Image 2)

I hope that I have correctly stated my point!

Thanks for the Gauthier et al. paper!

Hello Catherine,

The inner and outer tables (and diploe) of the skull are normal; the superior triangle at the top is the "Superior sagittal sinus" . So you have a normal coronal XR of a child skull!

You can see also the beginning of the "frontal sinus"development. They take their individual anatomical characteristics about 2 years and are visible on XR about 6 or 8 years old. Under the right orbit, sit the maxillary sinus; at 5 years they take a pyramid shape but I only see its foramen!

Best regards. PhiL.

Some information about the etiology are listed in this article - sure you'll discover more when looking at the references cited.

Vertebral morphology influences the development of Schmorl's nodes in the lower thoracic vertebrae (Plomp KA, Roberts CA, Viðarsdóttir US)

Am J Phys Anthropol. 2012 Dec;149(4):572-82. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22168.

Do you mean associate mapping? Or do you mean seeing how the results of each compare? My dissertation looked at the products of biodistance analysis using nuclear microsatellites and dental non-metric datasets.