INTRODUCTION

Structural Integration practitioners aim t( affect the human body’s visible contours balance and motion dynamics. At firs glance, one of us studying Comparative Anatomy and Paleontology may seem more than a little strange. After all, we work with humans, not other large critters; and Vertebrate Paleontology, as the study of dead and extinct creatures’ bones, seems just plait irrelevant. However, cross-pollination from other disciplines can lead to new perspectives and lines of inquiry. I have found during my extensive and appropriate study o human anatomy that I could study one form for only so long before losing sight o the forest for the trees.

COMPARATIVE ANATOMY

Try sorting a box of mixed bones (say from cats, dogs, raccoons, opossums and chickens) into its various species and you’ll rap. idly find out how much you don’t know about anatomical form and function. Consider that if we orient our spines horizon. tally (like most other vertebrates), then out mouths would be located ventrally, on the same side of our bodies as bottom-feeding fishes. In this light, humans appear as bottom feeders! The point is that there are many kinds of vertebrates out there. When we see ourselves as minor variations from the dominant patterns, we can gain perspective on our own form and function. Looking at similarities and differences in other species can lead to new understandings of structural patterns, which can lead in turn to fresh ideas about alternative treatment modalities.

Consider the question of the placement of the human body’s lateral line. Where and how should it be drawn? Examination of lateral lines of femurs from man to mice, cats and wolves, horses, bears and mastodons reveals a continuous set of S-shaped curves, not straight lines. This has treatment implications for work in humans, because Dr. Rolf’s gravity model only identified a straight lateral line and the relevant illustrations in her book’ emphasize the femur’s linearity, not its curvilinear function. A practitioner armed with awareness of the reality of curved femurs can work to create differently balanced results than the individual who is relating only to a hypothetically straight lateral line.

An interesting lesson may be learned about spines from looking at horse anatomy. Spines are typically modeled as one set of vertebral units, each one composed of a centum with its posterior and lateral extensions for muscle and ligament attachment. Consider that a horse’s ribs come together in two places, at its backbone and sternum. In between the sternal ends of the ribs are “sternabrae” bones, about the size and shape of a charcoal briquette, that are like a centrum without its neural tube and extensions for muscle and ligament attachments. Think of sternabrae as being sternal vertebrae and that, functionally speaking, horses have two spines, each of equal importance to the structural integrity and design of the creature. In light of this information, SI practitioners may want to ask if they preferentially treat a client’s back more than front. Postural stress symptoms may manifest in upper backs, necks and shoulders, but is it good to focus on upper back tensions while under-treating the compression in the sternum?

VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY

<img src=’https://novo.pedroprado.com.br/imgs/2001/589-1.jpg’>
Figure 1:Tyrannosaurus Rex as a giant tail-dragging lizard. Illustration from All About Dinosaurs by Roy Chapman Andrews (1953).

Paleontologists have classically been confronted with several anatomical problems. Given a collection of bones, are they all from the same creature? If so, how do they best fit together, and what behavior is the resulting form best adapted for? The history of Vertebrate Paleontology is rich with examples of people’s inspirations and ideas about these questions. Early Paleontologists couldn’t conceive of how animals as large as Brontosaurus could carry their massive frames overland. They therefore invented swamps and waterways as the creature’s primary habitats. The famous therapod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex has been transformed from a giant tail-dragging lizard (figure 1) to a tottering, graviportal scavenger, and, more recently, to Jurassic Park’s gracile super-mobile jeep-chasing megapredator (Figure 2). The ideas and debate driving this conceptual transformation are a Fascinating read. T-rex is a classic example of one of the world’s most all-time successful bipeds. The SI community has much to learn by studying therapod dynamics and biomechanics.

<img src=’https://novo.pedroprado.com.br/imgs/2001/589-2.jpg’>
Figure 2:Tyrannosaurus Rex as (A) a tottering, graviportal scavenger and,more recently (B), Jurassic Park’s gracile, super-mobile jeep-chasing megapredator. Illustrations from Predatory Dinosaurs of the World by Gregory S. Paul.

The value of studying Paleontology is that we can understand how people have learned how to think about the form vs. function problem without having the living critter available. The advantage that SI practitioners have over Paleontologists is that we have the living (although human) vertebrate literally in hand. We also have the experimental method available to us. This means that we can compare work done based on hypotheses with experimental, visible and measurable results that are readily available over time. The Paleontology community cannot do this.

CONCLUSION

Understanding how other biologically successful bodies are organized has put my vision of human structural dynamics in a very different light. I have found that new understandings about form and function in non-human creatures can lead to new ideas and treatment paths for my work with humans. I believe the SI community, working .directly with evolution’s results, will benefit from exploring current thought on the nature of evolution’s directed vectors and morphospaces. SI’s similarity to the healing arts leads many of us to closely identify ourselves with the non-linear beliefs and practices of healers. Perhaps we should consider an alternative, equally valuable identity as scientists involved in exploring, applying, and documenting principles of functional morphology in our benign laboratory work with human beings.

REFERENCES

1. Rolf, Ida P., Rolfing: The Integration o~ Human Structures, Dennis Landman, 1977, illustrations 4-2 (p. 45) and 9-1 (p. 142).

2. Andrews, Roy Chapman, All About Dinosaurs, Random House, 1953, Illustration (p. 55) by Thomas W Voter.

3. Paul, Gregory S., Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, Simon and Schuster, 1988, Illustrations 6-4 (p. 142) and 6-5 (p. 144) by Gregory S. Paul.

RECOMMENDED READING LIST

1. Hildebrand, Milton., Analysis of Vertebrate Structure, John Wiley & Sons, 1994.

2. Rudwick, Martin J.S., The Meaning of Fossils: Episodes in the History of Paleontology, University of ChicagoPress, 1972.

3. Stahl, Barbara J., Vertebrate History: Problems in Evolution, Dover Publications, 1974.

4. Zimmer, Carl, At The Water’s Edge, Macroevolution and the Transformation of Life, 1998.

Richard F. Wheeler began his career in Structural Integration and Movement Education in 1971. Joe Heller and Richard Wheeler met and studied in the same class with Dr. Rolf. They held regular open houses on Rolfing and Structural Patterning together in Los Angeles in the years before Joseph started teaching his synthesis now known as Hellerwork. Richard began studying bones as a research volunteer in 1982 at Los Angeles’ world famous “La Brea” Tar Pits. He is a former Senior Excavator at the George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, a published researcher on saber-toothed cat skull morphology and a member of the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology.