A few weeks ago I was traipsing across Almaty, Kazakhstan’s former capital, when a stain in the road caught my eye:

It’s obviously iliac but it’s not just any old ilium. I think I discovered the underreported antimere of the Ardipithecus ramidus pelvis (ARA-VP 6/500; Lovejoy et al., 2009). What it’s doing in Almaty, and in the middle of a busy street, I have no idea. I’ve long thought the absence of hominin fossils in Kazakhstan was suspicious. But not this suspicious.

The Ardi innominate pictured (center, above) is from the left side, and the Almaty intersection innominate is a perfect counterpart from the right. Yes, I know they found a right ilium at Aramis to go with the better preserved left half. But to that I reply:

Let’s compare the “true” right ilium from Aramis (left, below) with my more likely antimere (right). Look how perfectly the Almaty Ardi fits the reconstruction:

The lower portion of the ilium is a bit taller than in later hominins, what’s preserved of the acetabulum is a bit small, and there’s a beautiful portion of the auricular surface for articulation with the (never recovered) sacrum. I rest my case.

Despite their strange shapes, pelvic parts seem to be the epitome of “osteology everywhere.”

Reference
 Lovejoy CO, Suwa G, Spurlock L, Asfaw B, & White TD (2009). The pelvis and femur of Ardipithecus ramidus: the emergence of upright walking. Science (New York, N.Y.), 326 (5949), 710-6 PMID: 19810197

You can read the media summaries (not actual articles) of the Ardipithecus ramidus reports here.