Form, function and evolution of the human hand
Bibliographic Data
The modern human hand is an intriguing mix of primitive morphology and derived function. Traditionally, its form and function are explained as a functional “trade‐off” between the requirements of locomotion and manipulation, but recently acquired comparative, experimental and fossil evidence suggests that this functional trade‐off is more complex than conventional wisdom suggests. Moreover, when studying hand evolution within the hominin clade, the only morphological evidence comes from the hard‐tissues, and evidence about hand function must be inferred indirectly from the archaeological record. We lack information about critical aspects of hand form (e.g., soft tissues) and function (e.g., neurology) as well as non‐lithic evidence about behavior. Thus, comparative anatomical, experimental and ethological studies of modern humans and other primates are critical to making more informed inferences about hand use in the past. We review the relevant fossil and archaeological evidence within the relevant comparative context (e.g., other extant apes and dexterous monkeys) in an attempt to reconstruct hand evolution within the hominin clade. We conclude by summarizing our current understanding—or lack thereof—of the evolutionary history of the modern human hand.
Apes · fossil hominins · Language and cultural evolution · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Primate Behavior and Ecology
Morphological integration and shape covariation between the trapezium and first metacarpal among extant hominids
A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Toolmaking Skill Acquisition in Non-Industrial Societies
Variation and covariation of external shape and cross‐sectional geometry in the human metacarpus
Functional Morphology of the Scaphoid in Extant African Apes, Humans and Fossil Hominins
Ontogeny and sexual dimorphism in the human hands through a 2D geometric morphometrics approach
Cortical bone architecture of hominid intermediate phalanges reveals functional signals of locomotion and manipulation
Evolutionary selection and morphological integration in the hand of modern humans
“How handy was early hominin ‘know‐how’?” An experimental approach exploring efficient early stone tool use
Developmental Modularity and Evolutionary Integration
Sticks and Stones
Longitudinal analysis of neuromuscular adaptation using entropy and PCA during motor learning
Reconsidering Whether Knuckle‐Walking Gave Rise to Bipedalism in Light of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis
Quantitative Analysis of the Carpal Tunnel and Its Inner Structures in Primates
Influence of food physical properties and environmental context on manipulative behaviors highlighted by new methodological approaches in zoo‐housed bonobos ( Pan paniscus )
Beyond the genus stereotype. Who were the first toolmarkers in Africa? Crossed views between archaeology and anatomy
Recognizing past shapes
Decoding Palaeolithic Hand Stencils
Lower Paleolithic Shaped Stone Balls—What Is Next? Some Cultural–Cognitive Questions
Reevaluating Hand Stencil Phenomena in Cave Art
Who made the Oldowan? Reviewing African hominin fossils and archaeological sites from 3.5 million years ago
Deciphering the correlated evolutionary responses of the hands and feet in modern humans
Morphological variation in the manual distal phalanges of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in relation to tool-use behavior
Humanlike manual activities in Australopithecus
Costs of Early Stone Toolmaking cannot Establish the Presence of Know-how Copying
Muscle attachment sites and behavioral reconstruction
Trapeziometacarpal joint mobility in gibbons (fam. Hylobatidae) and rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta )
Human origins
Muscle dimensions in the chimpanzee hand
Tool-use in free-ranging baboons of Nairobi National Park
The Nariokotome Homo Erectus Skeleton
Careful Climbing in the Miocene
Australopithecus sediba Hand Demonstrates Mosaic Evolution of Locomotor and Manipulative Abilities
Quantitative and functional studies on the hands of the anthropoidea. I. The Hominoidea
Independent evolution of knuckle-walking in African apes shows that humans did not evolve from a knuckle-walking ancestor
Reexamining Human Origins in Light of Ardipithecus ramidus
Lower Pliocene Hominid Remains from Sterkfontein
Adaptation and the Form-Function Complex
Studies of the Hands of Living Primates
Australopithecus sediba at 1.977 Ma and Implications for the Origins of the Genus Homo
Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids
A juvenile early hominin skeleton from Dikika, Ethiopia
A review of trabecular bone functional adaptation
The evolution of human and ape hand proportions
The Physiological Age of KNM-WT 15000
The evolutionary context of the first hominins
Fossil Hand Bones from Olduvai Gorge
The Prehensile Movements of the Human Hand
The effect of endurance exercise on the morphology of muscle attachment sites
The Primitive Wrist of Homo floresiensis and Its Implications for Hominin Evolution
The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa
Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia
The Upper Limb of Australopithecus sediba
Neither chimpanzee nor human, Ardipithecus reveals the surprising ancestry of both
Late Miocene hominids from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia
Excavation of a Chimpanzee Stone Tool Site in the African Rainforest
New cosmogenic burial ages for Sterkfontein Member 2 Australopithecus and Member 5 Oldowan
Characters Common to Higher Primates and Characters Specific for Man
The hand of Homo naledi
Hunterian Lectures on Man's Posture
Hand of Paranthropus robustus from Member 1, Swartkrans
Tool making, hand morphology and fossil hominins
An earlier origin for stone tool making
Australopithecus africanus The Man-Ape of South Africa
Early stone technology on Flores and its implications for Homo floresiensis
Comparative positional behavior of the African apes
The evolutionary history of the hominin hand since the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo
New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa
Wild monkeys flake stone tools
Year-old chimpanzee sites and the origins of percussive stone technology
Analytical Archaeology
Precision grips in young chimpanzees
Homo
The Oldowan-Acheulian Transition
Neanderthal hands in their proper perspective
Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East
Nut‐cracking behaviour in wild‐born, rehabilitated bonobos ( Pan paniscus )
Gestural communication in young gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla )
The physical characteristics and usage patterns of stone axe and pounding hammers used by long‐tailed macaques in the Andaman Sea region of Thailand
Prehension in Cebus and Saimiri
Tool use behavior in three wild bonobo communities at Kokolopori
Manipulative repertoire of bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) in spontaneous feeding situation
Tool use for food acquisition in a wild mountain gorilla ( Gorilla beringei beringei )
Capuchin monkey tool use
Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) in savanna landscapes
Chimpanzee thumb muscle cross sections, moment arms and potential torques, and comparisons with humans
Estimating origination times from the early hominin fossil record
EMG study of hand muscle recruitment during hard hammer percussion manufacture of Oldowan tools
Precision grips, hand morphology, and tools
One small step
Pan the Tool-Maker
Chimpanzee and human grips
How Precisely Do Bonobos (Pan paniscus) Grasp Small Objects
Technological Response of Wild Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) to Anthropogenic Change
Positional behavior in the Hominoidea
Hand preferences of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in simple reaching for food
Anatomy of the hominoid wrist joint
Functional Inference in Paleoanthropology
Variability in Ethnographic Hidescraper Use among the Hadiya of Ethiopia
Energy Cost of Stone Knapping
Pliocene Archaeology at Lomekwi 3? New Evidence Fuels More Skepticism
The World's Oldest Stone Artefacts from Gona, Ethiopia
The First Humans – Origin and Early Evolution of the Genus Homo
The oldowan reassessed
Effects of body size and social context on the arboreal activities of lowland gorillas in the Central African Republic
Unexpected terrestrial hand posture diversity in wild mountain gorillas
Upper limb kinematics and the role of the wrist during stone tool production
Grips and hand movements of chimpanzees during feeding in M ahale M ountains N ational P ark, T anzania
Technical intelligence and culture
Facultative terrestrial hand postures in an orangutan ( Pongo pygmaeus ) and pongid evolution
Kinetics of stone tool production among novice and expert tool makers
Grip preference, dermatoglyphics, and hand use in captive chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes )
Great ape walking kinematics
Comparative 3D quantitative analyses of trapeziometacarpal joint surface curvatures among living catarrhines and fossil hominins
Locomotor behavior of wild orangutans ( pongo pygmaeus wurmbii ) in disturbed peat swamp forest, Sabangau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Orangutan positional behavior and the nature of arboreal locomotion in Hominoidea
Comparative morphology of the pollical distal phalanx
Locomotor behavior of Pan paniscus in Zaire
Neanderthal hand and foot remains from Moula‐Guercy, Ardèche, France
Evolution of the power (“squeeze”) grip and its morphological correlates in hominids
Species attribution of the Swartkrans thumb metacarpals
Manual function and performance in humans, gorillas, and orangutans during the same tool use task
Reassessing manual proportions in Australopithecus afarensis
Kinematics and energetics of nut‐cracking in wild capuchin monkeys ( Cebus libidinosus ) in Piauí, Brazil
Olduvai hominid 7 trapezial metacarpal 1 articular morphology
| Citations per year | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |