THE ANATOMICAL RECORD 298:931–932 (2015)
EDITORIAL Mummies Are Alive. . .Within the Pages of The Anatomical Record! The Anatomical Record has proudly published special issues recently on many topics, ranging from: an exploration of Moby Dick’s relatives (Laitman, 2007; Reidenberg, 2007); the inner workings of the sinuses (Laitman, 2008; Marquez, 2008); the hidden biology of dinosaurs (Dodson, 2009; Laitman, 2009); a microscope on how our closest relatives swing through the trees or munch on lunch (Laitman, 2010; Organ, et al., 2010); explorations on what’s new in the biology of our South American monkey cousins (Laitman, 2011; Rosenberger, 2011); new findings in vestibular and hearing biology (a favorite for those of us becoming by necessity more interested in the latter; Laitman, 2012; Van De Water, 2012); to the wonderful world of noses, what they are, and how they came to be (Laitman, 2014; Van Valkenburgh et al., 2014)–to mention but a few. While covering an array of topics, they have all had one thing in common: our journal has a long and glorious history of publishing the best science in aspects of theses fields. Indeed, many of the greatest anatomists of the last 100 years presented their outstanding findings in The Anatomical Record, paving the way for our special issues. This month’s Special Issue, “The Anatomy of the Mummy,” Guest Edited by Janet Monge and Frank R€ uhli (Monge and R€ uhli, 2015; Laitman, 2015) is a departure for us because it takes The Anatomical Record into an interdisciplinary realm that we have not ventured into before: the world of human mummified remains. Indeed, besides a brief report from Ron Wade in the sister publication of ours, The New Anatomist, on “medical mummies” back in 1998 (Wade, 1998), or the brief discussion relating to mummified tissue in Blaney and Johnson’s (1989) technique paper on reconstituting fixed cadaveric material, The Anatomical Record has not been home to studies that explore either human or animal mummies. Just was not “our thing” as kids would say today. Yet, while that may have been true in the past, our current Anatomical Record is a most different beast, hungry to explore new and interdisciplinary areas. Indeed, our journal has prided itself in recent years in being at the forefront of “Integrative Anatomy,” by which we mean going out of the classic silos and reflecting the reality of how our science is done today. Rarely, does one use a single approach or technique to test their hypotheses, and current “anatomists” are just as likely to use approaches and methodologies from physiology, molecular biology, or cell biology, as they are to employ classic dissection,
C 2015 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC. V
histology, or histochemistry. Our journal seeks to reflect the robusticity of our science, and we have especially tried to do this in our Special Issues. “The Anatomy of the Mummy” has afforded us the perfect opportunity to do the above. Led by anatomists Janet Monge and Frank R€ uhli, mummies reported on in our Special Issue have been viewed from both the inside and the outside. Their anatomy has been exquisitely detailed through cutting edge examination, imaging and histology, while they are put in historical, archeological and cultural context. Indeed, even the often-uncomfortable topic of ethical appropriateness of access and preservation are given a needed voice. So, new and different as this issue may be to our pantheon of topics, The Anatomical Record enthusiastically welcomes the science of Mummies to our home. Jeffrey T. Laitman* Associate Editor The Anatomical Record Kurt H. Albertine Editor-in-Chief The Anatomical Record
LITERATURE CITED Blaney SPA, Johnson B. 1989. Technique for reconstructing fixed cadaveric tissue. Anat Rec 224:550–551. Dodson P. 2009. Dinosaurs in the year of darwin. Anat Rec 292: 1240–1245. Laitman JT. 2007. Thar she blows. . .and dives, and feeds, and talks, and hears, and thinks: the anatomical adaptations of aquatic mammals. Anat Rec 290:504–506. Laitman JT. 2008. Harnessing the hallowed hollows of the head: the mysterious world of the paranasal sinuses. Anat Rec 291: 1346–1349. Laitman JT. 2009. The real jurassic park: joseph leidy’s heirs reconstruct the anatomy of dinosaurs. Anat Rec 292:1237– 1239. Laitman JT. 2010. The magic of the monkey house: new insights into the anatomy that makes primates primates. Anat Rec 293:541–543. Laitman JT. 2011. A (new world monkey) tree grows in brooklyn. Anat Rec 294:1953–1954. Laitman JT. 2012. The anatomy of hearing and balance disorders and their treatment: welcome to a brave new world. Anat Rec 295:1739–1740. Laitman JT. 2014. Those who know what the nose knows. Anat Rec 297:1793–1794.
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Fig. 1. Nuts about mummies. Yes we AR! Dr. Laitman (left) and Dr. Albertine (right) are in the threshold of the Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology & Anthropology) in Philadelphia. The event is the 2011 Anatomy of the Mummy Symposium, co-sponsored by AR. The symposium, its organizer, Dr. Janet Monge (Curator), and its speakers led to this Special Issue: The Anatomy of the Mummy.
Laitman JT. 2015. Unwrapping the anatomy of mummies. Anat Rec 298:931–932. Marquez S. 2008. The paranasal sinuses: the last frontier in craniofacial biology. Anat Rec 291:1150–1161. Monge JA, R€ uhli F. 2015. The anatomy of the Mummy: Mortui viventes docent–when ancient mummies speak to modern doctors. Anat Rec 298:935–940. Organ JM, DeLeon VB, Wang Q, Smith TD. 2010. From head to tail: new models and approaches in primate functional anatomy and biomechanics. Anat Rec 293:544–549. Reidenberg JS. 2007. Anatomical adaptations of aquatic mammals. Anat Rec 290:507–513. Rosenberger AL. 2011. Evolutionary morphology, platyrrhine evolution and systematics. Anat Rec 294:1955–1974. Van De Water TR. 2012. Historical aspects of inner ear anatomy and biology thatunderlie the design of hearing and balance prosthetic devices. Anat Rec 295:1741–1759.
Van Valkenburgh B, Smith TD, Craven BA. 2014. Tour of a labyrinth: exploring the vertebrate nose. Anat Rec 297:1975–1984. Wade RS. 1998. Medical mummies: the history of the burns collection. Anat Rec (New Anatomist) 253:158–161.
*Correspondence to: Jeffrey T. Laitman, Associate Editor, The Anatomical Record Center for Anatomy and Functional Morphology Box 1007 ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, 10029 Tel: 212 241-5622. E-mail: [email protected] FAX: 212 860-1174 Received 25 February 2015 Accepted: 26 February 2015. DOI 10.1002/ar.23127 Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary. com).
EDITORIAL Mummies Are Alive. . .Within the Pages of The Anatomical Record! The Anatomical Record has proudly published special issues recently on many topics, ranging from: an exploration of Moby Dick’s relatives (Laitman, 2007; Reidenberg, 2007); the inner workings of the sinuses (Laitman, 2008; Marquez, 2008); the hidden biology of dinosaurs (Dodson, 2009; Laitman, 2009); a microscope on how our closest relatives swing through the trees or munch on lunch (Laitman, 2010; Organ, et al., 2010); explorations on what’s new in the biology of our South American monkey cousins (Laitman, 2011; Rosenberger, 2011); new findings in vestibular and hearing biology (a favorite for those of us becoming by necessity more interested in the latter; Laitman, 2012; Van De Water, 2012); to the wonderful world of noses, what they are, and how they came to be (Laitman, 2014; Van Valkenburgh et al., 2014)–to mention but a few. While covering an array of topics, they have all had one thing in common: our journal has a long and glorious history of publishing the best science in aspects of theses fields. Indeed, many of the greatest anatomists of the last 100 years presented their outstanding findings in The Anatomical Record, paving the way for our special issues. This month’s Special Issue, “The Anatomy of the Mummy,” Guest Edited by Janet Monge and Frank R€ uhli (Monge and R€ uhli, 2015; Laitman, 2015) is a departure for us because it takes The Anatomical Record into an interdisciplinary realm that we have not ventured into before: the world of human mummified remains. Indeed, besides a brief report from Ron Wade in the sister publication of ours, The New Anatomist, on “medical mummies” back in 1998 (Wade, 1998), or the brief discussion relating to mummified tissue in Blaney and Johnson’s (1989) technique paper on reconstituting fixed cadaveric material, The Anatomical Record has not been home to studies that explore either human or animal mummies. Just was not “our thing” as kids would say today. Yet, while that may have been true in the past, our current Anatomical Record is a most different beast, hungry to explore new and interdisciplinary areas. Indeed, our journal has prided itself in recent years in being at the forefront of “Integrative Anatomy,” by which we mean going out of the classic silos and reflecting the reality of how our science is done today. Rarely, does one use a single approach or technique to test their hypotheses, and current “anatomists” are just as likely to use approaches and methodologies from physiology, molecular biology, or cell biology, as they are to employ classic dissection,
C 2015 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC. V
histology, or histochemistry. Our journal seeks to reflect the robusticity of our science, and we have especially tried to do this in our Special Issues. “The Anatomy of the Mummy” has afforded us the perfect opportunity to do the above. Led by anatomists Janet Monge and Frank R€ uhli, mummies reported on in our Special Issue have been viewed from both the inside and the outside. Their anatomy has been exquisitely detailed through cutting edge examination, imaging and histology, while they are put in historical, archeological and cultural context. Indeed, even the often-uncomfortable topic of ethical appropriateness of access and preservation are given a needed voice. So, new and different as this issue may be to our pantheon of topics, The Anatomical Record enthusiastically welcomes the science of Mummies to our home. Jeffrey T. Laitman* Associate Editor The Anatomical Record Kurt H. Albertine Editor-in-Chief The Anatomical Record
LITERATURE CITED Blaney SPA, Johnson B. 1989. Technique for reconstructing fixed cadaveric tissue. Anat Rec 224:550–551. Dodson P. 2009. Dinosaurs in the year of darwin. Anat Rec 292: 1240–1245. Laitman JT. 2007. Thar she blows. . .and dives, and feeds, and talks, and hears, and thinks: the anatomical adaptations of aquatic mammals. Anat Rec 290:504–506. Laitman JT. 2008. Harnessing the hallowed hollows of the head: the mysterious world of the paranasal sinuses. Anat Rec 291: 1346–1349. Laitman JT. 2009. The real jurassic park: joseph leidy’s heirs reconstruct the anatomy of dinosaurs. Anat Rec 292:1237– 1239. Laitman JT. 2010. The magic of the monkey house: new insights into the anatomy that makes primates primates. Anat Rec 293:541–543. Laitman JT. 2011. A (new world monkey) tree grows in brooklyn. Anat Rec 294:1953–1954. Laitman JT. 2012. The anatomy of hearing and balance disorders and their treatment: welcome to a brave new world. Anat Rec 295:1739–1740. Laitman JT. 2014. Those who know what the nose knows. Anat Rec 297:1793–1794.
932
EDITORIAL
Fig. 1. Nuts about mummies. Yes we AR! Dr. Laitman (left) and Dr. Albertine (right) are in the threshold of the Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology & Anthropology) in Philadelphia. The event is the 2011 Anatomy of the Mummy Symposium, co-sponsored by AR. The symposium, its organizer, Dr. Janet Monge (Curator), and its speakers led to this Special Issue: The Anatomy of the Mummy.
Laitman JT. 2015. Unwrapping the anatomy of mummies. Anat Rec 298:931–932. Marquez S. 2008. The paranasal sinuses: the last frontier in craniofacial biology. Anat Rec 291:1150–1161. Monge JA, R€ uhli F. 2015. The anatomy of the Mummy: Mortui viventes docent–when ancient mummies speak to modern doctors. Anat Rec 298:935–940. Organ JM, DeLeon VB, Wang Q, Smith TD. 2010. From head to tail: new models and approaches in primate functional anatomy and biomechanics. Anat Rec 293:544–549. Reidenberg JS. 2007. Anatomical adaptations of aquatic mammals. Anat Rec 290:507–513. Rosenberger AL. 2011. Evolutionary morphology, platyrrhine evolution and systematics. Anat Rec 294:1955–1974. Van De Water TR. 2012. Historical aspects of inner ear anatomy and biology thatunderlie the design of hearing and balance prosthetic devices. Anat Rec 295:1741–1759.
Van Valkenburgh B, Smith TD, Craven BA. 2014. Tour of a labyrinth: exploring the vertebrate nose. Anat Rec 297:1975–1984. Wade RS. 1998. Medical mummies: the history of the burns collection. Anat Rec (New Anatomist) 253:158–161.
*Correspondence to: Jeffrey T. Laitman, Associate Editor, The Anatomical Record Center for Anatomy and Functional Morphology Box 1007 ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, 10029 Tel: 212 241-5622. E-mail: [email protected] FAX: 212 860-1174 Received 25 February 2015 Accepted: 26 February 2015. DOI 10.1002/ar.23127 Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary. com).
