51
|
Hunt KD. Why are there apes? Evidence for the co-evolution of ape and monkey ecomorphology. J Anat 2016; 228:630-85. [PMID: 27004976 PMCID: PMC4804131 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Apes, members of the superfamily Hominoidea, possess a distinctive suite of anatomical and behavioral characters which appear to have evolved relatively late and relatively independently. The timing of paleontological events, extant cercopithecine and hominoid ecomorphology and other evidence suggests that many distinctive ape features evolved to facilitate harvesting ripe fruits among compliant terminal branches in tree edges. Precarious, unpredictably oriented, compliant supports in the canopy periphery require apes to maneuver using suspensory and non-sterotypical postures (i.e. postures with eccentric limb orientations or extreme joint excursions). Diet differences among extant species, extant species numbers and evidence of cercopithecoid diversification and expansion, in concert with a reciprocal decrease in hominoid species, suggest intense competition between monkeys and apes over the last 20 Ma. It may be that larger body masses allow great apes to succeed in contest competitions for highly desired food items, while the ability of monkeys to digest antifeedant-rich unripe fruits allows them to win scramble competitions. Evolutionary trends in morphology and inferred ecology suggest that as monkeys evolved to harvest fruit ever earlier in the fruiting cycle they broadened their niche to encompass first more fibrous, tannin- and toxin-rich unripe fruits and later, for some lineages, mature leaves. Early depletion of unripe fruit in the central core of the tree canopy by monkeys leaves a hollow sphere of ripening fruits, displacing antifeedant-intolerant, later-arriving apes to small-diameter, compliant terminal branches. Hylobatids, orangutans, Pan species, gorillas and the New World atelines may have each evolved suspensory behavior independently in response to local competition from an expanding population of monkeys. Genetic evidence of rapid evolution among chimpanzees suggests that adaptations to suspensory behavior, vertical climbing, knuckle-walking, consumption of terrestrial piths and intercommunity violence had not yet evolved or were still being refined when panins (chimpanzees and bonobos) and hominins diverged.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin D Hunt
- Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| |
Collapse
|
52
|
Williams SA, Middleton ER, Villamil CI, Shattuck MR. Vertebral numbers and human evolution. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 159:S19-36. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Scott A. Williams
- Department of Anthropology; Center for the Study of Human Origins, New York University; New York NY 10003
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York NY
| | - Emily R. Middleton
- Department of Anthropology; Center for the Study of Human Origins, New York University; New York NY 10003
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York NY
| | - Catalina I. Villamil
- Department of Anthropology; Center for the Study of Human Origins, New York University; New York NY 10003
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York NY
| | - Milena R. Shattuck
- Department of Anthropology; Center for the Study of Human Origins, New York University; New York NY 10003
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York NY
| |
Collapse
|
53
|
Machnicki AL, Spurlock LB, Strier KB, Reno PL, Lovejoy CO. First steps of bipedality in hominids: evidence from the atelid and proconsulid pelvis. PeerJ 2016; 4:e1521. [PMID: 26793418 PMCID: PMC4715437 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2015] [Accepted: 11/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Upright walking absent a bent-hip-bent-knee gait requires lumbar lordosis, a ubiquitous feature in all hominids for which it can be observed. Its first appearance is therefore a central problem in human evolution. Atelids, which use the tail during suspension, exhibit demonstrable lordosis and can achieve full extension of their hind limbs during terrestrial upright stance. Although obviously homoplastic with hominids, the pelvic mechanisms facilitating lordosis appear largely similar in both taxa with respect to abbreviation of upper iliac height coupled with broad sacral alae. Both provide spatial separation of the most caudal lumbar(s) from the iliac blades. A broad sacrum is therefore a likely facet of earliest hominid bipedality. All tailed monkeys have broad alae. By contrast all extant apes have very narrow sacra, which promote “trapping” of their most caudal lumbars to achieve lower trunk rigidity during suspension. The alae in the tailless proconsul Ekembo nyanzae appear to have been quite broad, a character state that may have been primitive in Miocene hominoids not yet adapted to suspension and, by extension, exaptive for earliest bipedality in the hominid/panid last common ancestor. This hypothesis receives strong support from other anatomical systems preserved in Ardipithecus ramidus.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Allison L Machnicki
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA , United States
| | - Linda B Spurlock
- Department of Anthropology, Kent State University , Kent, OH , United States
| | - Karen B Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, WI , United States
| | - Philip L Reno
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA , United States
| | - C Owen Lovejoy
- Department of Anthropology, Kent State University , Kent, OH , United States
| |
Collapse
|
54
|
Comparative sacral morphology and the reconstructed tail lengths of five extinct primates: Proconsul heseloni, Epipliopithecus vindobonensis, Archaeolemur edwardsi, Megaladapis grandidieri, and Palaeopropithecus kelyus. J Hum Evol 2016; 90:135-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2015] [Revised: 10/14/2015] [Accepted: 10/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
|
55
|
Kikuchi Y, Nakatsukasa M, Nakano Y, Kunimatsu Y, Shimizu D, Ogihara N, Tsujikawa H, Takano T, Ishida H. Morphology of the thoracolumbar spine of the middle Miocene hominoid Nacholapithecus kerioi from northern Kenya. J Hum Evol 2015; 88:25-42. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2015] [Revised: 08/31/2015] [Accepted: 09/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
56
|
Thompson NE, Demes B, O'Neill MC, Holowka NB, Larson SG. Surprising trunk rotational capabilities in chimpanzees and implications for bipedal walking proficiency in early hominins. Nat Commun 2015; 6:8416. [PMID: 26441046 PMCID: PMC4600717 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2015] [Accepted: 08/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Human walking entails coordinated out-of-phase axial rotations of the thorax and pelvis. A long-held assumption is that this ability relies on adaptations for trunk flexibility present in humans, but not in chimpanzees, other great apes, or australopithecines. Here we use three-dimensional kinematic analyses to show that, contrary to current thinking, chimpanzees walking bipedally rotate their lumbar and thoracic regions in a manner similar to humans. This occurs despite differences in the magnitude of trunk motion, and despite morphological differences in truncal ‘rigidity' between species. These results suggest that, like humans and chimpanzees, early hominins walked with upper body rotations that countered pelvic rotation. We demonstrate that even if early hominins walked with pelvic rotations 50% larger than humans, they may have accrued the energetic and mechanical benefits of out-of-phase thoracic rotations. This would have allowed early hominins to reduce work and locomotor cost, improving walking efficiency early in hominin evolution. Greater trunk flexibility in humans is thought to be a major adaptation to bipedal walking compared to chimpanzees. Here Thompson et al. show that chimpanzees are capable of human-like trunk rotations during bipedalism, suggesting bipedal proficiency was present in early hominins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nathan E Thompson
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Health Sciences Center T8-040, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8081, USA
| | - Brigitte Demes
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Health Sciences Center T8-040, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8081, USA
| | - Matthew C O'Neill
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, Health Sciences Education Building, Phoenix, Arizona 85004-2157, USA
| | - Nicholas B Holowka
- Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Social &Behavioral Sciences Building, Stony Brook, New York 11794-4364, USA
| | - Susan G Larson
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Health Sciences Center T8-040, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8081, USA
| |
Collapse
|
57
|
Huq E, Wall CE, Taylor AB. Epaxial muscle fiber architecture favors enhanced excursion and power in the leaper Galago senegalensis. J Anat 2015; 227:524-40. [PMID: 26184388 PMCID: PMC4580110 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/10/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Galago senegalensis is a habitual arboreal leaper that engages in rapid spinal extension during push-off. Large muscle excursions and high contraction velocities are important components of leaping, and experimental studies indicate that during leaping by G. senegalensis, peak power is facilitated by elastic storage of energy. To date, however, little is known about the functional relationship between epaxial muscle fiber architecture and locomotion in leaping primates. Here, fiber architecture of select epaxial muscles is compared between G. senegalensis (n = 4) and the slow arboreal quadruped, Nycticebus coucang (n = 4). The hypothesis is tested that G. senegalensis exhibits architectural features of the epaxial muscles that facilitate rapid and powerful spinal extension during the take-off phase of leaping. As predicted, G. senegalensis epaxial muscles have relatively longer, less pinnate fibers and higher ratios of tendon length-to-fiber length, indicating the capacity for generating relatively larger muscle excursions, higher whole-muscle contraction velocities, and a greater capacity for elastic energy storage. Thus, the relatively longer fibers and higher tendon length-to-fiber length ratios can be functionally linked to leaping performance in G. senegalensis. It is further predicted that G. senegalensis epaxial muscles have relatively smaller physiological cross-sectional areas (PCSAs) as a consequence of an architectural trade-off between fiber length (excursion) and PCSA (force). Contrary to this prediction, there are no species differences in relative PCSAs, but the smaller-bodied G. senegalensis trends towards relatively larger epaxial muscle mass. These findings suggest that relative increase in muscle mass in G. senegalensis is largely attributable to longer fibers. The relative increase in erector spinae muscle mass may facilitate sagittal flexibility during leaping. The similarity between species in relative PCSAs provides empirical support for previous work linking osteological features of the vertebral column in lorisids with axial stability and reduced muscular effort associated with slow, deliberate movements during anti-pronograde locomotion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emranul Huq
- Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook UniversityStony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Christine E Wall
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke UniversityDurham, NC, USA
| | - Andrea B Taylor
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke UniversityDurham, NC, USA
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University School of MedicineDurham, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
58
|
Russo GA, Williams SA. Giant pandas (Carnivora: Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and living hominoids converge on lumbar vertebral adaptations to orthograde trunk posture. J Hum Evol 2015; 88:160-179. [PMID: 26341032 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2015] [Revised: 06/06/2015] [Accepted: 06/28/2015] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Living hominoids share a common body plan characterized by a gradient of derived postcranial features that distinguish them from their closest living relatives, cercopithecoid monkeys. However, the evolutionary scenario(s) that led to the derived postcranial features of hominoids are uncertain. Explanations are complicated by the fact that living hominoids vary considerably in positional behaviors, and some Miocene hominoids are morphologically, and therefore probably behaviorally, distinct from modern hominoids. Comparative studies that aim to identify morphologies associated with specific components of positional behavioral repertoires are an important avenue of research that can improve our understanding of the evolution and adaptive significance of the hominoid postcranium. Here, we employ a comparative approach to offer additional insight into the evolution of the hominoid lumbar vertebral column. Specifically, we tested whether giant pandas (Carnivora: Ailuropoda melanoleuca) converge with living hominoids on lumbar vertebral adaptations to the single component of their respective positional behavioral repertoires that they share--orthograde (i.e., upright) trunk posture. We compare lumbar vertebral morphologies of Ailuropoda to those of other living ursids and caniform outgroups (northern raccoons and gray wolves). Mirroring known differences between living hominoids and cercopithecoids, Ailuropoda generally exhibits fewer, craniocaudally shorter lumbar vertebrae with more dorsally positioned transverse processes that are more dorsally oriented and laterally directed, and taller, more caudally directed spinous processes than other caniforms in the sample. Our comparative evidence lends support to a potential evolutionary scenario in which the acquisition of hominoid-like lumbar vertebral morphologies may have evolved for generalized orthograde behaviors and could have been exapted for suspensory behavior in crown hominoids and for other locomotor specializations (e.g., brachiation) in extant lineages.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle A Russo
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
| | - Scott A Williams
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY 10024, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa.
| |
Collapse
|
59
|
Young JW, Russo GA, Fellmann CD, Thatikunta MA, Chadwell BA. Tail function during arboreal quadrupedalism in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis) and tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 323:556-66. [PMID: 26173756 DOI: 10.1002/jez.1948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2015] [Revised: 05/15/2015] [Accepted: 05/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The need to maintain stability on narrow branches is often presented as a major selective force shaping primate morphology, with adaptations to facilitate grasping receiving particular attention. The functional importance of a long and mobile tail for maintaining arboreal stability has been comparatively understudied. Tails can facilitate arboreal balance by acting as either static counterbalances or dynamic inertial appendages able to modulate whole-body angular momentum. We investigate associations between tail use and inferred grasping ability in two closely related cebid platyrrhines-cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and black-capped squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis). Using high-speed videography of captive monkeys moving on 3.2 cm diameter poles, we specifically test the hypothesis that squirrel monkeys (characterized by grasping extremities with long digits) will be less dependent on the tail for balance than tamarins (characterized by claw-like nails, short digits, and a reduced hallux). Tamarins have relatively longer tails than squirrel monkeys, move their tails through greater angular amplitudes, at higher angular velocities, and with greater angular accelerations, suggesting dynamic use of tail to regulate whole-body angular momentum. By contrast, squirrel monkeys generally hold their tails in a comparatively stationary posture and at more depressed angles, suggesting a static counterbalancing mechanism. This study, the first empirical test of functional tradeoffs between grasping ability and tail use in arboreal primates, suggests a critical role for the tail in maintaining stability during arboreal quadrupedalism. Our findings have the potential to inform our functional understanding of tail loss during primate evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jesse W Young
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Rootstown, Ohio.,School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
| | - Gabrielle A Russo
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | - Connie D Fellmann
- Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Meena A Thatikunta
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Rootstown, Ohio
| | - Brad A Chadwell
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Rootstown, Ohio
| |
Collapse
|
60
|
Nalley TK, Grider-Potter N. Functional morphology of the primate head and neck. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2015; 156:531-42. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2014] [Revised: 02/01/2015] [Accepted: 02/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thierra K. Nalley
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Anthropology; California Academy of Sciences; 55 Music Concourse Dr San Francisco CA 94118
- Department of Anthropology; Southern Illinois University; Faner Hall, Carbondale IL 62901
| | - Neysa Grider-Potter
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change; Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University; Tempe AZ 85287-4101
| |
Collapse
|
61
|
Proconsul heseloni distal radial and ulnar epiphyses from the Kaswanga Primate Site, Rusinga Island, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2015; 80:17-33. [PMID: 25577018 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2012] [Revised: 06/12/2014] [Accepted: 06/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
|
62
|
Williams SA, Russo GA. Evolution of the hominoid vertebral column: The long and the short of it. Evol Anthropol 2015; 24:15-32. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
|
63
|
Lewton KL. Allometric scaling and locomotor function in the primate pelvis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2015; 156:511-30. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2014] [Revised: 11/17/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristi L. Lewton
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology; Boston University School of Medicine; Boston MA 02118
| |
Collapse
|
64
|
Sparrey CJ, Bailey JF, Safaee M, Clark AJ, Lafage V, Schwab F, Smith JS, Ames CP. Etiology of lumbar lordosis and its pathophysiology: a review of the evolution of lumbar lordosis, and the mechanics and biology of lumbar degeneration. Neurosurg Focus 2015; 36:E1. [PMID: 24785474 DOI: 10.3171/2014.1.focus13551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The goal of this review is to discuss the mechanisms of postural degeneration, particularly the loss of lumbar lordosis commonly observed in the elderly in the context of evolution, mechanical, and biological studies of the human spine and to synthesize recent research findings to clinical management of postural malalignment. Lumbar lordosis is unique to the human spine and is necessary to facilitate our upright posture. However, decreased lumbar lordosis and increased thoracic kyphosis are hallmarks of an aging human spinal column. The unique upright posture and lordotic lumbar curvature of the human spine suggest that an understanding of the evolution of the human spinal column, and the unique anatomical features that support lumbar lordosis may provide insight into spine health and degeneration. Considering evolution of the skeleton in isolation from other scientific studies provides a limited picture for clinicians. The evolution and development of human lumbar lordosis highlight the interdependence of pelvic structure and lumbar lordosis. Studies of fossils of human lineage demonstrate a convergence on the degree of lumbar lordosis and the number of lumbar vertebrae in modern Homo sapiens. Evolution and spine mechanics research show that lumbar lordosis is dictated by pelvic incidence, spinal musculature, vertebral wedging, and disc health. The evolution, mechanics, and biology research all point to the importance of spinal posture and flexibility in supporting optimal health. However, surgical management of postural deformity has focused on restoring posture at the expense of flexibility. It is possible that the need for complex and costly spinal fixation can be eliminated by developing tools for early identification of patients at risk for postural deformities through patient history (genetics, mechanics, and environmental exposure) and tracking postural changes over time.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn J Sparrey
- Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
65
|
Morgan ME, Lewton KL, Kelley J, Otárola-Castillo E, Barry JC, Flynn LJ, Pilbeam D. A partial hominoid innominate from the Miocene of Pakistan: description and preliminary analyses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:82-7. [PMID: 25489095 PMCID: PMC4291661 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1420275111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We describe a partial innominate, YGSP 41216, from a 12.3 Ma locality in the Siwalik Group of the Potwar Plateau in Pakistan, assigned to the Middle Miocene ape species Sivapithecus indicus. We investigate the implications of its morphology for reconstructing positional behavior of this ape. Postcranial anatomy of extant catarrhines falls into two distinct groups, particularly for torso shape. To an extent this reflects different although variable and overlapping positional repertoires: pronograde quadrupedalism for cercopithecoids and orthogrady for hominoids. The YGSP innominate (hipbone) is from a primate with a narrow torso, resembling most extant monkeys and differing from the broader torsos of extant apes. Other postcranial material of S. indicus and its younger and similar congener Sivapithecus sivalensis also supports reconstruction of a hominoid with a positional repertoire more similar to the pronograde quadrupedal patterns of most monkeys than to the orthograde patterns of apes. However, Sivapithecus postcranial morphology differs in many details from any extant species. We reconstruct a slow-moving, deliberate, arboreal animal, primarily traveling above supports but also frequently engaging in antipronograde behaviors. There are no obvious synapomorphic postcranial features shared exclusively with any extant crown hominid, including Pongo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kristi L Lewton
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118
| | - Jay Kelley
- Institute of Human Origins and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287; and Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
| | | | - John C Barry
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Lawrence J Flynn
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - David Pilbeam
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
| |
Collapse
|
66
|
Lewton KL. Pelvic Form and Locomotor Adaptation in Strepsirrhine Primates. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2014; 298:230-48. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.23070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2014] [Accepted: 10/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristi L. Lewton
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology; Boston University School of Medicine; Boston Massachusetts
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Harvard University; Cambridge Massachusetts
| |
Collapse
|
67
|
Lumbar vertebral morphology of flying, gliding, and suspensory mammals: Implications for the locomotor behavior of the subfossil lemurs Palaeopropithecus and Babakotia. J Hum Evol 2014; 75:40-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2013] [Revised: 03/23/2014] [Accepted: 06/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
68
|
Lovejoy CO. Ardipithecusand Early Human Evolution in Light of Twenty-First-Century Developmental Biology. JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2014. [DOI: 10.3998/jar.0521004.0070.301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
|
69
|
Russo GA. Postsacral Vertebral Morphology in Relation to Tail Length Among Primates and Other Mammals. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2014; 298:354-75. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.23004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 05/29/2014] [Accepted: 07/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle A. Russo
- Department of Anthropology; Stony Brook University; Stony Brook New York 11794-8081 USA
| |
Collapse
|
70
|
Susanna I, Alba DM, Almécija S, Moyà-Solà S. The vertebral remains of the late Miocene great ape Hispanopithecus laietanus from Can Llobateres 2 (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula). J Hum Evol 2014; 73:15-34. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2012] [Revised: 02/18/2014] [Accepted: 05/07/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
71
|
Variation of the number of proximal caudal vertebrae with tail reduction in Old World monkeys. Primates 2014; 55:509-14. [DOI: 10.1007/s10329-014-0429-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2013] [Accepted: 05/14/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
72
|
Chan LK. The thoracic shape of hominoids. ANATOMY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2014; 2014:324850. [PMID: 24818026 PMCID: PMC4000967 DOI: 10.1155/2014/324850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2014] [Accepted: 02/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In hominoids, the broad thorax has been assumed to contribute to their dorsal scapular position. However, the dorsoventral diameter of their cranial thorax was found in one study to be longer in hominoids. There are insufficient data on thoracic shape to explain the relationship between broad thorax and dorsal scapular position. The current study presents data on multilevel cross-sectional shape and volume distribution in a range of primates. Biplanar radiographs of intact fluid-preserved cadavers were taken to measure the cross-sectional shape of ten equally spaced levels through the sternum (called decisternal levels) and the relative volume of the nine intervening thoracic segments. It was found that the cranial thorax of hominoids is larger and broader (except in the first two decisternal levels) than that of other primates. The cranial thorax of hominoids has a longer dorsoventral diameter because the increase in dorsoventral diameter caused by the increase in the volume of the cranial thorax overcompensates for the decrease caused by the broadening of the cranial thorax. The larger and broader cranial thorax in hominoids can be explained as a locomotor adaptation for scapular gliding and as a respiratory adaptation for reducing the effects of orthograde posture on ventilation-perfusion inequality.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lap Ki Chan
- Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education, and Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| |
Collapse
|
73
|
Hammond AS. In vivo baseline measurements of hip joint range of motion in suspensory and nonsuspensory anthropoids. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2014; 153:417-34. [PMID: 24288178 PMCID: PMC4023689 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2013] [Revised: 11/11/2013] [Accepted: 11/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Hominoids and atelines are known to use suspensory behaviors and are assumed to possess greater hip joint mobility than nonsuspensory monkeys, particularly for range of abduction. This assumption has greatly influenced how extant and fossil primate hip joint morphology has been interpreted, despite the fact that there are no data available on hip mobility in hominoids or Ateles. This study uses in vivo measurements to test the hypothesis that suspensory anthropoids have significantly greater ranges of hip joint mobility than nonsuspensory anthropoids. Passive hip joint mobility was measured on a large sample of anesthetized captive anthropoids (nonhuman hominids = 43, hylobatids = 6, cercopithecids = 43, Ateles = 6, and Cebus = 6). Angular and linear data were collected using goniometers and tape measures. Range of motion (ROM) data were analyzed for significant differences by locomotor group using ANOVA and phylogenetic regression. The data demonstrate that suspensory anthropoids are capable of significantly greater hip abduction and external rotation. Degree of flexion and internal rotation were not larger in the suspensory primates, indicating that suspension is not associated with a global increase in hip mobility. Future work should consider the role of external rotation in abduction ability, how the physical position of the distal limb segments are influenced by differences in ROM proximally, as well as focus on bony and soft tissue differences that enable or restrict abduction and external rotation at the anthropoid hip joint.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ashley S. Hammond
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri School of Medicine, M263 Medical Sciences Building, Columbia, Missouri 65212
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794
| |
Collapse
|
74
|
Granatosky MC, Lemelin P, Chester SGB, Pampush JD, Schmitt D. Functional and evolutionary aspects of axial stability in euarchontans and other mammals. J Morphol 2013; 275:313-27. [PMID: 24288155 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2013] [Revised: 06/21/2013] [Accepted: 08/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The presence of a stable thoracolumbar region, found in many arboreal mammals, is considered advantageous for bridging and cantilevering between discontinuous branches. However, no study has directly explored the link between osteological features cited as enhancing axial stability and the frequency of cantilevering and bridging behaviors in a terminal branch environment. To fill this gap, we collected metric data on costal and vertebral morphology of primate and nonprimate mammals known to cantilever and bridge frequently and those that do not. We also quantified the frequency and duration of cantilevering and bridging behaviors using experimental setups for species that have been reported to show differences in use of small branches and back anatomy (Caluromys philander, Loris tardigradus, Monodelphis domestica, and Cheirogaleus medius). Phylogenetically corrected principal component analysis reveals that taxa employing frequent bridging and cantilevering (C. philander and lorises) also exhibit reduced intervertebral and intercostal spaces, which can serve to increase thoracolumbar stability, when compared to closely related species (M. domestica and C. medius). We observed C. philander cantilevering and bridging significantly more often than M. domestica, which never cantilevered or crossed any arboreal gaps. Although no difference in the frequency of cantilevering was observed between L. tardigradus and C. medius, the duration of cantilevering bouts was significantly greater in L. tardigradus. These data suggest that osteological features promoting axial rigidity may be part of a morpho-behavioral complex that increases stability in mammals moving and foraging in a terminal branch environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael C Granatosky
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
75
|
Neufuss J, Hesse B, Thorpe SKS, Vereecke EE, D'Aout K, Fischer MS, Schilling N. Fibre type composition in the lumbar perivertebral muscles of primates: implications for the evolution of orthogrady in hominoids. J Anat 2013; 224:113-31. [PMID: 24433382 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The axial musculoskeletal system is important for the static and dynamic control of the body during both locomotor and non-locomotor behaviour. As a consequence, major evolutionary changes in the positional habits of a species are reflected by morpho-functional adaptations of the axial system. Because of the remarkable phenotypic plasticity of muscle tissue, a close relationship exists between muscle morphology and function. One way to explore major evolutionary transitions in muscle function is therefore by comparative analysis of fibre type composition. In this study, the three-dimensional distribution of slow and fast muscle fibres was analysed in the lumbar perivertebral muscles of two lemuriform (mouse lemur, brown lemur) and four hominoid primate species (white-handed gibbon, orangutan, bonobo, chimpanzee) in order to develop a plausible scenario for the evolution of the contractile properties of the axial muscles in hominoids and to discern possible changes in muscle physiology that were associated with the evolution of orthogrady. Similar to all previously studied quadrupedal mammals, the lemuriform primates in this study exhibited a morpho-functional dichotomy between deep slow contracting local stabilizer muscles and superficial fast contracting global mobilizers and stabilizers and thus retained the fibre distribution pattern typical for quadrupedal non-primates. In contrast, the hominoid primates showed no regionalization of the fibre types, similar to previous observations in Homo. We suggest that this homogeneous fibre composition is associated with the high functional versatility of the axial musculature that was brought about by the evolution of orthograde behaviours and reflects the broad range of mechanical demands acting on the trunk in orthograde hominoids. Because orthogrady is a derived character of euhominoids, the uniform fibre type distribution is hypothesized to coincide with the evolution of orthograde behaviours.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Neufuss
- Institute of Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
76
|
Moffett EA, Maddux SD, Ward CV. Sexual dimorphism in relative sacral breadth among catarrhine primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 152:435-46. [PMID: 24132790 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2012] [Accepted: 08/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
As the sacrum contributes to the size and shape of the birth canal, the sexually dimorphic sacrum of humans is frequently interpreted within obstetric contexts. However, while the human sacrum has been extensively studied, comparatively little is known about sacral morphology in nonhuman primates. Thus, it remains unclear whether sacral sexual dimorphism exists in other primates, and whether potential dimorphism is primarily related to obstetrics or other factors such as body size dimorphism. In this study, sacra of Homo sapiens, Hylobates lar, Nasalis larvatus, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus, Pan troglodytes, and Pan paniscus were evaluated for sexual dimorphism in relative sacral breadth (i.e., the ratio of overall sacral breadth to first sacral vertebral body breadth). Homo sapiens, H. lar, N. larvatus, and G. gorilla exhibit dimorphism in this ratio. Of these, the first three species have large cephalopelvic proportions, whereas G. gorilla has small cephalopelvic proportions. P. pygmaeus, P. troglodytes, and P. paniscus, which all have small cephalopelvic proportions, were not dimorphic for relative sacral breadth. We argue that among species with large cephalopelvic proportions, wide sacral alae in females facilitate birth by increasing the pelvic inlet's transverse diameter. However, given the small cephalopelvic proportions among gorillas, an obstetric basis for dimorphism in relative sacral breadth appears unlikely. This raises the possibility that sacral dimorphism in gorillas is attributable to selection for relatively narrow sacra in males rather than relatively broad sacra in females. Accordingly, these results have implications for interpreting pelvic dimorphism among fossil primates, including hominins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Moffett
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65212
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
77
|
Middle Miocene Pierolapithecus provides a first glimpse into early hominid pelvic morphology. J Hum Evol 2013; 64:658-66. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2012] [Revised: 03/03/2013] [Accepted: 03/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
|
78
|
Schmid P, Churchill SE, Nalla S, Weissen E, Carlson KJ, de Ruiter DJ, Berger LR. Mosaic Morphology in the Thorax of
Australopithecus sediba. Science 2013; 340:1234598. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1234598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Schmid
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa
| | - Steven E. Churchill
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Box 90383, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Shahed Nalla
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa
- Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Eveline Weissen
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Kristian J. Carlson
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Darryl J. de Ruiter
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Lee R. Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
79
|
Lycett SJ, von Cramon-Taubadel N. Understanding the comparative catarrhine context of human pelvic form: A 3D geometric morphometric analysis. J Hum Evol 2013; 64:300-10. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2012] [Revised: 01/19/2013] [Accepted: 01/21/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
|
80
|
|
81
|
Arias-Martorell J, Potau JM, Bello-Hellegouarch G, Pastor JF, Pérez-Pérez A. 3D geometric morphometric analysis of the proximal epiphysis of the hominoid humerus. J Anat 2012; 221:394-405. [PMID: 22946496 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2012.01560.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/07/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study we perform a three-dimensional geometric morphometric (3D GM) analysis of the proximal epiphysis of the humerus in extant great apes, including humans, in order to accurately describe the functional anatomical differences between these taxa. In addition, a fossil hominin specimen of Australopithecus afarensis was included in a multivariate GM analysis in order to test the potential of this methodological approach for making locomotor inferences from fossil remains. The results obtained show significant differences in proximal humeral morphology among the taxa studied, which had thus far largely remained unnoticed. Based on morphofunctional considerations, these anatomical differences can be correlated to differences in the locomotor repertoires of the taxa, thus confirming that the proximal humerus is suitable for constructing paleobiological inferences about locomotion. Modern humans display markedly divergent features, which set them apart from both the extant great apes and the fossil hominin A. afarensis. The morphology of the proximal epiphysis of the humerus of the latter more closely resembles that of the orangutans, thus suggesting that despite hindlimb adaptations to bipedalism, the forelimb of this taxon was still functionally involved in arboreal behaviors, such as climbing or suspension.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julia Arias-Martorell
- Anthropology Unit, Animal Biology Department, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
82
|
Kikuchi Y, Nakano Y, Nakatsukasa M, Kunimatsu Y, Shimizu D, Ogihara N, Tsujikawa H, Takano T, Ishida H. Functional morphology and anatomy of cervical vertebrae in Nacholapithecus kerioi, a middle Miocene hominoid from Kenya. J Hum Evol 2012; 62:677-95. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2011] [Revised: 02/07/2012] [Accepted: 03/13/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
|
83
|
Williams SA. Placement of the diaphragmatic vertebra in catarrhines: Implications for the evolution of dorsostability in hominoids and bipedalism in hominins. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2012; 148:111-22. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2011] [Accepted: 02/07/2012] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
|
84
|
Organ JM, Lemelin P. Tail Architecture and Function of Cebupithecia sarmientoi, a Middle Miocene Platyrrhine from La Venta, Colombia. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2011; 294:2013-23. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.21504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2011] [Accepted: 09/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
85
|
Russo GA, Shapiro LJ. Morphological correlates of tail length in the catarrhine sacrum. J Hum Evol 2011; 61:223-32. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2010] [Revised: 02/02/2011] [Accepted: 03/07/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
|
86
|
Alba DM, Moyà-Solà S, Almécija S. A partial hominoid humerus from the middle miocene of Castell de Barberà (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2010; 144:365-81. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2010] [Accepted: 09/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
87
|
Lovejoy CO, McCollum MA. Spinopelvic pathways to bipedality: why no hominids ever relied on a bent-hip-bent-knee gait. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:3289-99. [PMID: 20855303 PMCID: PMC2981964 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Until recently, the last common ancestor of African apes and humans was presumed to resemble living chimpanzees and bonobos. This was frequently extended to their locomotor pattern leading to the presumption that knuckle-walking was a likely ancestral pattern, requiring bipedality to have emerged as a modification of their bent-hip-bent-knee gait used during erect walking. Research on the development and anatomy of the vertebral column, coupled with new revelations from the fossil record (in particular, Ardipithecus ramidus), now demonstrate that these presumptions have been in error. Reassessment of the potential pathway to early hominid bipedality now reveals an entirely novel sequence of likely morphological events leading to the emergence of upright walking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C Owen Lovejoy
- Department of Anthropology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, OH, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
88
|
Abstract
In the past 20 years, new discoveries of fossil apes from the Miocene have transformed our ideas about the timing, geography, and causes of the evolution of the African apes and humans. Darwin predicted that the common ancestor of African apes and humans would be found in Africa. Yet the majority of fossil great apes are from Europe and Asia. I briefly review the fossil record of great apes and then examine the main competing hypotheses of our origins, African or European, inspired by these recent discoveries, concluding that elements of both ideas are likely to be correct. Given current interpretations of the paleobiology of fossil apes and relationships among living hominids, I suggest that the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans was morphologically unique, but more chimpanzee-like than hominin-like: a knuckle-walker with a chimpanzee-sized brain, canine sexual dimorphism, and many probable behavioral similarities to living chimpanzees.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David R. Begun
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S2, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
89
|
Locomotor inferences in Pierolapithecus and Hispanopithecus: Reply to Deane and Begun (2008). J Hum Evol 2010; 59:143-9; discussion 150-4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2008] [Revised: 10/13/2009] [Accepted: 10/01/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
90
|
Russo GA. Prezygapophyseal articular facet shape in the catarrhine thoracolumbar vertebral column. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2010; 142:600-12. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
|
91
|
|
92
|
Lovejoy CO, Suwa G, Spurlock L, Asfaw B, White TD. The Pelvis and Femur of Ardipithecus ramidus: The Emergence of Upright Walking. Science 2009. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1175831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 213] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
|
93
|
Almécija S, Alba DM, Moyà-Solà S. Pierolapithecus and the functional morphology of Miocene ape hand phalanges: paleobiological and evolutionary implications. J Hum Evol 2009; 57:284-97. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2008] [Revised: 02/03/2009] [Accepted: 02/18/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
|
94
|
Nakatsukasa M, Kunimatsu Y. Nacholapithecusand its importance for understanding hominoid evolution. Evol Anthropol 2009. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.20208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
95
|
McCollum MA, Rosenman BA, Suwa G, Meindl RS, Lovejoy CO. The vertebral formula of the last common ancestor of African apes and humans. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2009; 314:123-34. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.21316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
|
96
|
Crompton RH, Vereecke EE, Thorpe SKS. Locomotion and posture from the common hominoid ancestor to fully modern hominins, with special reference to the last common panin/hominin ancestor. J Anat 2008; 212:501-43. [PMID: 18380868 PMCID: PMC2409101 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00870.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/07/2008] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Based on our knowledge of locomotor biomechanics and ecology we predict the locomotion and posture of the last common ancestors of (a) great and lesser apes and their close fossil relatives (hominoids); (b) chimpanzees, bonobos and modern humans (hominines); and (c) modern humans and their fossil relatives (hominins). We evaluate our propositions against the fossil record in the context of a broader review of evolution of the locomotor system from the earliest hominoids of modern aspect (crown hominoids) to early modern Homo sapiens. While some early East African stem hominoids were pronograde, it appears that the adaptations which best characterize the crown hominoids are orthogrady and an ability to abduct the arm above the shoulder - rather than, as is often thought, manual suspension sensu stricto. At 7-9 Ma (not much earlier than the likely 4-8 Ma divergence date for panins and hominins, see Bradley, 2008) there were crown hominoids in southern Europe which were adapted to moving in an orthograde posture, supported primarily on the hindlimb, in an arboreal, and possibly for Oreopithecus, a terrestrial context. By 7 Ma, Sahelanthropus provides evidence of a Central African hominin, panin or possibly gorilline adapted to orthogrady, and both orthogrady and habitually highly extended postures of the hip are evident in the arboreal East African protohominin Orrorin at 6 Ma. If the traditional idea that hominins passed through a terrestrial 'knuckle-walking' phase is correct, not only does it have to be explained how a quadrupedal gait typified by flexed postures of the hindlimb could have preadapted the body for the hominin acquisition of straight-legged erect bipedality, but we would have to accept a transition from stem-hominoid pronogrady to crown hominoid orthogrady, back again to pronogrady in the African apes and then back to orthogrady in hominins. Hand-assisted arboreal bipedality, which is part of a continuum of orthograde behaviours, is used by modern orangutans to forage among the small branches at the periphery of trees where the core hominoid dietary resource, ripe fruit, is most often to be found. Derivation of habitual terrestrial bipedality from arboreal hand-assisted bipedality requires fewer transitions, and is also kinematically and kinetically more parsimonious.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R H Crompton
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Liverpool, Sherrington Buildings, Ashton Street, Liverpool L69 3GE, UK.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
97
|
Filler AG. Homeotic evolution in the mammalia: diversification of therian axial seriation and the morphogenetic basis of human origins. PLoS One 2007; 2:e1019. [PMID: 17925867 PMCID: PMC2000357 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2007] [Accepted: 09/17/2007] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Despite the rising interest in homeotic genes, little has been known about the course and pattern of evolution of homeotic traits across the mammalian radiation. An array of emerging and diversifying homeotic gradients revealed by this study appear to generate new body plans and drive evolution at a large scale. Methodology/Principal Findings This study identifies and evaluates a set of homeotic gradients across 250 extant and fossil mammalian species and their antecedents over a period of 220 million years. These traits are generally expressed as co-linear gradients along the body axis rather than as distinct segmental identities. Relative position or occurrence sequence vary independently and are subject to polarity reversal and mirroring. Five major gradient modification sets are identified: (1)–quantitative changes of primary segmental identity pattern that appeared at the origin of the tetrapods ; (2)–frame shift relation of costal and vertebral identity which diversifies from the time of amniote origins; (3)–duplication, mirroring, splitting and diversification of the neomorphic laminar process first commencing at the dawn of mammals; (4)–emergence of homologically variable lumbar lateral processes upon commencement of the radiation of therian mammals and ; (5)–inflexions and transpositions of the relative position of the horizontal septum of the body and the neuraxis at the emergence of various orders of therian mammals. Convergent functional changes under homeotic control include laminar articular engagement with septo-neural transposition and ventrally arrayed lumbar transverse process support systems. Conclusion/Significance Clusters of homeotic transformations mark the emergence point of mammals in the Triassic and the radiation of therians in the Cretaceous. A cluster of homeotic changes in the Miocene hominoid Morotopithecus that are still seen in humans supports establishment of a new “hominiform” clade and suggests a homeotic origin for the human upright body plan.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aaron G Filler
- Department of Anthropology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
| |
Collapse
|
98
|
Almécija S, Alba D, Moyà-Solà S, Köhler M. Orang-like manual adaptations in the fossil hominoid Hispanopithecus laietanus: first steps towards great ape suspensory behaviours. Proc Biol Sci 2007; 274:2375-84. [PMID: 17623642 PMCID: PMC2274979 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2007] [Revised: 06/18/2007] [Accepted: 06/19/2007] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Morphological and biometrical analyses of the partial hand IPS18800 of the fossil great ape Hispanopithecus laietanus (=Dryopithecus laietanus), from the Late Miocene (about 9.5Ma) of Can Llobateres (Catalonia, Spain), reveal many similarities with extant orang-utans (Pongo). These similarities are interpreted as adaptations to below-branch suspensory behaviours, including arm-swinging and clambering/postural feeding on slender arboreal supports, due to an orang-like double-locking mechanism. This is confirmed by the long and highly curved phalanges of Hispanopithecus. The short and stout metacarpals with dorsally constricted heads, together with the dorsally extended articular facets on proximal phalanges, indicate the persistence of significant degrees of palmigrady. A powerful grasping capability is indicated by the great development of basal phalangeal tubercles, the marked insertions for the flexors on phalangeal shafts and the large pits for the collateral ligaments. The morphology of the Hispanopithecus long bones of the hand indicates a unique positional repertoire, combining orthogrady with suspensory behaviours and palmigrade quadrupedalism. The retention of powerful grasping and palmigrady suggests that the last common ancestor of hominids might have been more primitive than what can be inferred on the basis of extant taxa, suggesting that pronograde behaviours are compatible with an orthograde bodyplan suitable for climbing and suspension.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Almécija
- Institut Català de Paleontologia, Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - D.M Alba
- Unitat d'Antropologia Biològica (Departament de BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - S Moyà-Solà
- Institut Català de Paleontologia, Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- Unitat d'Antropologia Biològica (Departament de BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - M Köhler
- Institut Català de Paleontologia, Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- Unitat d'Antropologia Biològica (Departament de BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCampus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
99
|
Kagaya M, Ogihara N, Nakatsukasa M. Morphological study of the anthropoid thoracic cage: scaling of thoracic width and an analysis of rib curvature. Primates 2007; 49:89-99. [PMID: 17902025 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-007-0064-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2007] [Accepted: 08/10/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
While a relatively broad thorax and strongly curved ribs are widely regarded as common features of living hominoids, few studies have quantitatively examined these traits by methods other than calculating the chest index. The present study aims to quantify variations in thoracic cage morphology for living anthropoids. The odd-numbered ribs (first to eleventh) were articulated with the corresponding vertebrae and the cranial and lateral views subsequently photographed. Rib profiles were digitized in both views and line-fitted by a Bézier curve to create a three-dimensional morphological data set. When thoracic cage width was scaled against body mass, Hylobates (and possibly Pongo) plotted above non-hominoid anthropoids at almost all rib levels, while Pan did not differ from non-hominoid anthropoids. The overall pattern of the normalized thoracic width differed between Hylobates and other hominoids. In Hylobates, an upward convex curve was seen between the first and seventh ribs while a more linear pattern was observed in Pan and Pongo. This result quantitatively confirmed that the barrel-shaped thoracic cage in Hylobates can be distinguished from the funnel-shaped form in other hominoids. Conversely, all hominoids shared two distinct features in the upper half-thorax: (1) a pronounced dorsal protrusion of the proximal part of the rib in accordance with ventral displacement of the thoracic spine and (2) a relatively medially projecting sternal end. Although these features are likely to provide some mechanical advantage in orthograde and/or suspensory positional behaviors, they were barely present in the suspensory Ateles.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miyuki Kagaya
- Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
100
|
Filler AG. Emergence and optimization of upright posture among hominiform hominoids and the evolutionary pathophysiology of back pain. Neurosurg Focus 2007. [DOI: 10.3171/foc-07/07/e4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
✓The lordotic region of the lumbar spine is a significant focus of pain and dysfunction in the human body, and its susceptibility to disorders may reflect its substantial reconfiguration during the course of human evolution. The basic anatomy of the lumbar vertebra in Old World Monkeys and Early Miocene apes, or proconsulids, retains typical mammalian architecture. The lumbar vertebra in humans is different in the repositioning of the lumbar transverse process dorsal to the vertebral body rather than originating on the body itself and in the loss of the styloid process that is adjacent to the facets in other primates. These two features appeared in Morotopithecus bishopi 21.6 million years ago, suggesting that this ape is the founder of an upright hominiform lineage. The iliocostalis lumborum muscles migrated onto the iliac crest approximately 18 million years ago, becoming a powerful lateral flexor muscle of the trunk. The posterior superior iliac spine shifted far dorsal to the longissimus insertion in the genus Homo between 1 and 2 million years ago, making this muscle a powerful extensor of the lumbar spine. Functionally, the establishment of strong muscular flexors and extensors adds dynamic compressive stresses to the lumbar disks and also makes these muscles susceptible to strain.
Collapse
|