Galbusera Fabio, Bassani Tito
Laboratory of Biological Structures Mechanics, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, 20161 Milan, Italy.
Biomimetics (Basel). 2019 Aug 30;4(3):60. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics4030060.
From its first appearance in early vertebrates, the spine evolved the function of protecting the spinal cord, avoiding excessive straining during body motion. Its stiffness and strength provided the basis for the development of the axial skeleton as the mechanical support of later animals, especially those which moved to the terrestrial environment where gravity loads are not alleviated by the buoyant force of water. In tetrapods, the functions of the spine can be summarized as follows: protecting the spinal cord; supporting the weight of the body, transmitting it to the ground through the limbs; allowing the motion of the trunk, through to its flexibility; providing robust origins and insertions to the muscles of trunk and limbs. This narrative review provides a brief perspective on the development of the spine in vertebrates, first from an evolutionary, and then from an embryological point of view. The paper describes functions and the shape of the spine throughout the whole evolution of vertebrates and vertebrate embryos, from primordial jawless fish to extant animals such as birds and humans, highlighting its fundamental features such as strength, stability, and flexibility, which gives it huge potential as a basis for bio-inspired technologies.
从其在早期脊椎动物中的首次出现开始，脊柱就进化出了保护脊髓的功能，避免身体运动时过度劳损。其刚度和强度为轴骨骼的发育奠定了基础，轴骨骼成为后来动物的机械支撑，尤其是那些迁移到陆地环境的动物，在陆地上重力负荷无法通过水的浮力减轻。在四足动物中，脊柱的功能可概括如下：保护脊髓；支撑身体重量，通过四肢将其传递到地面；通过其灵活性允许躯干运动；为躯干和四肢的肌肉提供强大的起止点。这篇叙述性综述首先从进化角度，然后从胚胎学角度，对脊椎动物脊柱的发育提供了简要的观点。本文描述了从原始无颌鱼类到鸟类和人类等现存动物的整个脊椎动物和脊椎动物胚胎进化过程中脊柱的功能和形状，突出了其强度、稳定性和灵活性等基本特征，这些特征使其作为生物启发技术的基础具有巨大潜力。
