Sonnabend D H, Young A A
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatic Surgery, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2009 Dec;91(12):1632-7. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.91B12.22370.
While the evolution of the bony skeleton of the shoulder girdle is well described, there is little information regarding the soft tissues, in particular of the rotator cuff. We dissected the shoulders of 23 different species and compared the anatomical features of the tendons of the rotator cuff. The alignment and orientation of the collagen fibres of some of the tendons were also examined histologically. The behaviour of the relevant species was studied, with particular reference to the extent and frequency of forward-reaching and overhead activity of the forelimb. In quadrupedal species, the tendons of supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor were seen to insert into the greater tuberosity of the humerus separately. They therefore did not form a true rotator cuff with blending of the tendons. This was only found in advanced primates and in one unusual species, the tree kangaroo. These findings support the suggestion that the appearance of the rotator cuff in the evolutionary process parallels anatomical adaptation to regular overhead activity and the increased use of the arm away from the sagittal plane.
虽然肩胛带骨骼的进化已得到充分描述，但关于软组织，尤其是肩袖的信息却很少。我们解剖了23个不同物种的肩部，并比较了肩袖肌腱的解剖特征。还对部分肌腱胶原纤维的排列和方向进行了组织学检查。研究了相关物种的行为，特别关注前肢前伸和过顶活动的程度和频率。在四足动物中，冈上肌、冈下肌和小圆肌的肌腱分别插入肱骨大结节。因此，它们并未通过肌腱融合形成真正的肩袖。这仅在高等灵长类动物和一种特殊物种——树袋鼠中发现。这些发现支持了以下观点：在进化过程中，肩袖的出现与对常规过顶活动的解剖学适应以及手臂在矢状面以外使用的增加并行。
