Editing Australopithecus afarensis (section)

===Birth===
[[File:A Visual Comparison of the Pelvis and Bony Birth Canal Vs. the Size of Infant Skull in Primate Species.png|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Diagram comparing birthing mechanisms of a chimpanzee (left), ''A. afarensis'' (middle) and a modern human (right)]]
The platypelloid pelvis may have caused a different birthing mechanism from modern humans, with the [[neonate]] entering the inlet facing laterally (the head was transversally orientated) until it exited through the [[pelvic outlet]]. This would be a non-rotational birth, as opposed to a fully rotational birth in humans. However, it has been suggested that the shoulders of the neonate may have been obstructed, and the neonate could have instead entered the inlet transversely and then rotated so that it exited through the outlet oblique to the main axis of the pelvis, which would be a semi-rotational birth. By this argument, there may not have been much space for the neonate to pass through the birth canal, causing a difficult [[childbirth]] for the mother.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=J. M.|last1=DeSilva|first2=N. M.|last2=Laudicina|first3=K. R.|last3=Rosenberg|first4=K. R.|last4=Trevathan|year=2017|title=Neonatal Shoulder Width Suggests a Semirotational, Oblique Birth Mechanism in ''Australopithecus afarensis''|journal=The Anatomical Record|volume=300|issue=5|pages=890–899|doi=10.1002/ar.23573|pmid=28406564|doi-access=free}}</ref>