Document Detail


Articular to diaphyseal proportions of human and great ape metatarsals.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20853475     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
This study proposes a new way to use metatarsals to identify locomotor behavior of fossil hominins. Metatarsal head articular dimensions and diaphyseal strength in a sample of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and humans (n = 76) are used to explore the relationships of these parameters with different locomotor modes. Results show that ratios between metatarsal head articular proportions and diaphyseal strength of the hallucal and fifth metatarsal discriminate among extant great apes and humans based on their different locomotor modes. In particular, the hallucal and fifth metatarsal characteristics of humans are functionally related to the different ranges of motion and load patterns during stance phase in the forefoot of humans in bipedal locomotion. This method may be applicable to isolated fossil hominin metatarsals to provide new information relevant to debates regarding the evolution of human bipedal locomotion. The second to fourth metatarsals are not useful in distinguishing among hominoids. Further studies should concentrate on measuring other important qualitative and quantitative differences in the shape of the metatarsal head of hominoids that are not reflected in simple geometric reconstructions of the articulation, and gathering more forefoot kinematic data on great apes to better understand differences in range of motion and loading patterns of the metatarsals.
Authors:
Damiano Marchi
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  American journal of physical anthropology     Volume:  143     ISSN:  1096-8644     ISO Abbreviation:  Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.     Publication Date:  2010 Oct 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-09-20     Completed Date:  2010-12-30     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0400654     Medline TA:  Am J Phys Anthropol     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  198-207     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
© 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Affiliation:
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0383, USA. dmarchi1@duke.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Animals
Anthropology, Physical*
Anthropometry*
Biomechanics
Diaphyses / anatomy & histology
Forefoot, Human / anatomy & histology
Hominidae / anatomy & histology*
Humans
Locomotion
Metatarsal Bones / anatomy & histology*
Statistics, Nonparametric
Walking

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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