Australopithecus sediba hand demonstrates mosaic evolution of locomotor and manipulative abilities

Tool making, hand morphology and fossil hominins

Was stone tool making a factor in the evolution of human hand morphology? Is it possible to find evidence in fossil hominin hands for this capability? These questions are being addressed with increasingly sophisticated studies that are testing two hypotheses; (i) that humans have unique patterns of grip and hand movement capabilities compatible with effective stone tool making and use of the tools and, if this is the case, (ii) that there exist unique patterns of morphology in human hands that are consistent with these capabilities. Comparative analyses of human stone tool behaviours and chimpanzee feeding behaviours have revealed a distinctive set of forceful pinch grips by humans that are effective in the control of stones by one hand during manufacture and use of the tools. Comparative dissections, kinematic analyses and biomechanical studies indicate that humans do have a unique pattern of muscle architecture and joint surface form and functions consistent with the derived capabilities. A major remaining challenge is to identify skeletal features that reflect the full morphological pattern, and therefore may serve as clues to fossil hominin manipulative capabilities. Hominin fossils are evaluated for evidence of patterns of derived human grip and stress-accommodation features.

Osteogenic relationship between the lateral plantar process and the peroneal tubercle in the human calcaneus

The osteogenic relationship between the lateral plantar process and the peroneal tubercle has been an uncertainty for researchers over several decades. While some argue there to be no developmental relationship between these two calcaneal structures, others have suggested that there is an inverse relationship, the lateral plantar process forming from a part of the peroneal tubercle. However, no previous studies have offered quantitative measurements to test these hypotheses. In this study, we measured the size of the peroneal tubercle, retrotrochlear eminence, and the size and area of the lateral plantar process in 73 subjects using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Navicular height was measured using weight-bearing radiographs as a measurement of longitudinal arch in 35 of these subjects. Age, body mass, and body mass index (BMI) were also recorded for all subjects. We determined that there was a significant positive correlation between the lateral plantar process and size of the peroneal tubercle, body mass, and BMI. Thus, assertions that there is an inverse relationship between the size of the lateral plantar process and the peroneal tubercle are here unfounded. We also determined there to be a positive correlation between the peroneal tubercle and both the size of the retrotrochlear eminence and the height of the navicular. In conclusion, we relate these novel findings to hominin fossil calcanei and discuss the evolutionary and biomechanical implications.

Different evolutionary pathways underlie the morphology of wrist bones in hominoids

BACKGROUND

The hominoid wrist has been a focus of numerous morphological analyses that aim to better understand long-standing questions about the evolution of human and hominoid hand use. However, these same analyses also suggest various scenarios of complex and mosaic patterns of morphological evolution within the wrist and potentially multiple instances of homoplasy that would benefit from require formal analysis within a phylogenetic context.We identify morphological features that principally characterize primate - and, in particular, hominoid (apes, including humans) - wrist evolution and reveal the rate, process and evolutionary timing of patterns of morphological change on individual branches of the primate tree of life. Linear morphological variables of five wrist bones - the scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, capitate and hamate - are analyzed in a diverse sample of extant hominoids (12 species, 332 specimens), Old World (8 species, 43 specimens) and New World (4 species, 26 specimens) monkeys, fossil Miocene apes (8 species, 20 specimens) and Plio-Pleistocene hominins (8 species, 18 specimens).

RESULT

Results reveal a combination of parallel and synapomorphic morphology within haplorrhines, and especially within hominoids, across individual wrist bones. Similar morphology of some wrist bones reflects locomotor behaviour shared between clades (scaphoid, triquetrum and capitate) while others (lunate and hamate) indicate clade-specific synapomorphic morphology. Overall, hominoids show increased variation in wrist bone morphology compared with other primate clades, supporting previous analyses, and demonstrate several occurrences of parallel evolution, particularly between orangutans and hylobatids, and among hominines (extant African apes, humans and fossil hominins).

CONCLUSIONS

Our analyses indicate that different evolutionary processes can underlie the evolution of a single anatomical unit (the wrist) to produce diversity in functional and morphological adaptations across individual wrist bones. These results exemplify a degree of evolutionary and functional independence across different wrist bones, the potential evolvability of skeletal morphology, and help to contextualize the postcranial mosaicism observed in the hominin fossil record.

Hand before foot? Cortical somatotopy suggests manual dexterity is primitive and evolved independently of bipedalism

People have long speculated whether the evolution of bipedalism in early hominins triggered tool use (by freeing their hands) or whether the necessity of making and using tools encouraged the shift to upright gait. Either way, it is commonly thought that one led to the other. In this study, we sought to shed new light on the origins of manual dexterity and bipedalism by mapping the neural representations in the brain of the fingers and toes of living people and monkeys. Contrary to the ‘hand-in-glove’ notion outlined above, our results suggest that adaptations underlying tool use evolved independently of those required for human bipedality. In both humans and monkeys, we found that each finger was represented separately in the primary sensorimotor cortex just as they are physically separated in the hand. This reflects the ability to use each digit independently, as required for the complex manipulation involved in tool use. The neural mapping of the subjects’ toes differed, however. In the monkeys, the somatotopic representation of the toes was fused, showing that the digits function predominantly as a unit in general grasping. Humans, by contrast, had an independent neurological representation of the big toe (hallux), suggesting association with bipedal locomotion. These observations suggest that the brain circuits for the hand had advanced beyond simple grasping, whereas our primate ancestors were still general arboreal quadrupeds. This early adaptation laid the foundation for the evolution of manual dexterity, which was preserved and enhanced in hominins. In hominins, a separate adaptation, involving the neural separation of the big toe, apparently occurred with bipedality. This accords with the known fossil evidence, including the recently reported hominin fossils which have been dated to 4.4 million years ago.

Primate origins, human origins, and the end of higher taxa

When people learn that I study human evolution and we start talking about it, they sometimes ask me, "How long ago did the first humans live?" My answer is usually another question: "What do you mean by 'humans'?" That response seems as baffling and wrong-headed to them as their question seems to me, and it usually takes us a while to straighten things out. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Protective buttressing of the human fist and the evolution of hominin hands

The derived proportions of the human hand may provide supportive buttressing that protects the hand from injury when striking with a fist. Flexion of digits 2–5 results in buttressing of the pads of the distal phalanges against the central palm and the palmar pads of the proximal phalanges. Additionally, adduction of the thenar eminence to abut the dorsal surface of the distal phalanges of digits 2 and 3 locks these digits into a solid configuration that may allow a transfer of energy through the thenar eminence to the wrist. To test the hypothesis of a performance advantage, we measured: (1) the forces and rate of change of acceleration (jerk) from maximum effort strikes of subjects striking with a fist and an open hand; (2) the static stiffness of the second metacarpo-phalangeal (MCP) joint in buttressed and unbuttressed fist postures; and (3) static force transfer from digits 2 and 3 to digit 1 also in buttressed and unbuttressed fist postures. We found that peak forces, force impulses and peak jerk did not differ between the closed fist and open palm strikes. However, the structure of the human fist provides buttressing that increases the stiffness of the second MCP joint by fourfold and, as a result of force transfer through the thenar eminence, more than doubles the ability of the proximal phalanges to transmit ‘punching’ force. Thus, the proportions of the human hand provide a performance advantage when striking with a fist. We propose that the derived proportions of hominin hands reflect, in part, sexual selection to improve fighting performance.

Exploring third metacarpal capitate facet shape in early hominins

The joint between the capitate and third metacarpal plays an important role in stabilizing the manus during hand use in great apes and humans. Researchers have examined the morphology of this region in humans, our fossil relatives, and other extant primates to try to understand the importance of this joint in human evolution. The first goal of our research was to explore shape variation of the third metacarpal capitate facet across extant anthropoids, including hominoids, cercopithecoids, and platyrrhines. This analysis allowed us to examine the range of variation in the capitate facet and the degree to which locomotor behavior, phylogeny, and size explained shape variation. We also examined capitate facet shape in the early hominin fossil record in order to explore how the shape of this articular surface has changed during early hominin evolution. We captured six landmark coordinates on the edge of the capitate facet in extant anthropoids and fossil specimens to quantify and visualize shape variation in this region. We used principal components analysis, Procrustes distances, and multivariate regression analysis to investigate different possible influences on shape variation. We found that shape variation corresponded to function, phylogeny, and size. With the exception of brachiation, shape variation did not clearly correspond with any specific locomotor behavior. However, we identified a shift in the relative mediolateral breadth of the capitate facet during early hominin evolution, which is most likely one of several adaptations for a more stable joint surface.

The diet of Australopithecus sediba

Specimens of Australopithecus sediba from the site of Malapa, South Africa (dating from approximately 2 million years (Myr) ago) present a mix of primitive and derived traits that align the taxon with other Australopithecus species and with early Homo. Although much of the available cranial and postcranial material of Au. sediba has been described, its feeding ecology has not been investigated. Here we present results from the first extraction of plant phytoliths from dental calculus of an early hominin. We also consider stable carbon isotope and dental microwear texture data for Au. sediba in light of new palaeoenvironmental evidence. The two individuals examined consumed an almost exclusive C(3) diet that probably included harder foods, and both dicotyledons (for example, tree leaves, fruits, wood and bark) and monocotyledons (for example, grasses and sedges). Like Ardipithecus ramidus (approximately 4.4 Myr ago) and modern savanna chimpanzees, Au. sediba consumed C(3) foods in preference to widely available C(4) resources. The inferred consumption of C(3) monocotyledons, and wood or bark, increases the known variety of early hominin foods. The overall dietary pattern of these two individuals contrasts with available data for other hominins in the region and elsewhere.

Carnivoran remains from the Malapa hominin site, South Africa

Recent discoveries at the new hominin-bearing deposits of Malapa, South Africa, have yielded a rich faunal assemblage associated with the newly described hominin taxon Australopithecus sediba. Dating of this deposit using U-Pb and palaeomagnetic methods has provided an age of 1.977 Ma, being one of the most accurately dated, time constrained deposits in the Plio-Pleistocene of southern Africa. To date, 81 carnivoran specimens have been identified at this site including members of the families Canidae, Viverridae, Herpestidae, Hyaenidae and Felidae. Of note is the presence of the extinct taxon Dinofelis cf. D. barlowi that may represent the last appearance date for this species. Extant large carnivores are represented by specimens of leopard (Panthera pardus) and brown hyaena (Parahyaena brunnea). Smaller carnivores are also represented, and include the genera Atilax and Genetta, as well as Vulpes cf. V. chama. Malapa may also represent the first appearance date for Felis nigripes (Black-footed cat). The geochronological age of Malapa and the associated hominin taxa and carnivoran remains provide a window of research into mammalian evolution during a relatively unknown period in South Africa and elsewhere. In particular, the fauna represented at Malapa has the potential to elucidate aspects of the evolution of Dinofelis and may help resolve competing hypotheses about faunal exchange between East and Southern Africa during the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene.

Constraints for control of the human hand

More than 30 muscles drive the hand to perform a multitude of essential dextrous tasks. Here we consider new views on the evolution of hand structure and on peripheral and central constraints for independent control of the digits of the hand. The human hand is widely assumed to have evolved from hands like those of African apes, yet recent studies have shown that our hands and those of the earliest hominids are very similar and unlike those of living apes. Understanding the limits of hand function may come from investigation of our last common ancestor with the great apes, rather than the great apes themselves. In the periphery, movement across the full range of joint space can be limited by mechanical linkages among the extrinsic muscles. Further, peripheral limits occur when the hand adopts some positions in which the contraction of muscles fails to move the joints on which they usually act; there is muscle 'disengagement' and functional paralysis for some actions. Surprisingly, the central nervous system drives the hand seamlessly through this landscape of mechanical limits. Central constraints on control of the individual digits include the spillover of neural drive to neighbouring muscles and their 'compartments', and the inability to make maximal muscle forces when multiple digits contract strongly which produces a force deficit. The pattern of these latter constraints correlates with amounts of daily use of each digit and favours enslaved extension to lift fingers from an object but selective flexion of fingers to contact it.

The foot and ankle of Australopithecus sediba

A well-preserved and articulated partial foot and ankle of Australopithecus sediba, including an associated complete adult distal tibia, talus, and calcaneus, have been discovered at the Malapa site, South Africa, and reported in direct association with the female paratype Malapa Hominin 2. These fossils reveal a mosaic of primitive and derived features that are distinct from those seen in other hominins. The ankle (talocrural) joint is mostly humanlike in form and inferred function, and there is some evidence for a humanlike arch and Achilles tendon. However, Au. sediba is apelike in possessing a more gracile calcaneal body and a more robust medial malleolus than expected. These observations suggest, if present models of foot function are correct, that Au. sediba may have practiced a unique form of bipedalism and some degree of arboreality. Given the combination of features in the Au. sediba foot, as well as comparisons between Au. sediba and older hominins, homoplasy is implied in the acquisition of bipedal adaptations in the hominin foot.

The endocast of MH1, Australopithecus sediba

The virtual endocast of MH1 (Australopithecus sediba), obtained from high-quality synchrotron scanning, reveals generally australopith-like convolutional patterns on the frontal lobes but also some foreshadowing of features of the human frontal lobes, such as posterior repositioning of the olfactory bulbs. Principal component analysis of orbitofrontal dimensions on australopith endocasts (MH1, Sts 5, and Sts 60) indicates that among these, MH1 orbitofrontal shape and organization align most closely with human endocasts. These results are consistent with gradual neural reorganization of the orbitofrontal region in the transition from Australopithecus to Homo, but given the small volume of the MH1 endocast, they are not consistent with gradual brain enlargement before the transition.