Insertion sites in manual proximal phalanges of African apes and modern humans

Bibliographic Data

ID8311375
AuthorsAna Bucchi (0000-0002-1247-230X, Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art Universitat Rovira i Virgili 35 Avinguda de Catalunya Tarragona Spain, corresponding author), Javier Luengo (Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art Universitat Rovira i Virgili 35 Avinguda de Catalunya Tarragona Spain), Antonietta Del Bove (0000-0001-6620-4514, Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art Universitat Rovira i Virgili 35 Avinguda de Catalunya Tarragona Spain), Carlos Lorenzo (0000-0001-5706-293X, Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art Universitat Rovira i Virgili 35 Avinguda de Catalunya Tarragona Spain)
Year2020
Volume173
Issue3
Pages556-567
Publication date2020-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.24127
PMID33460049
OpenAlexW3074965273
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited57

OBJECTIVES: The primary aim of this study was to describe the insertion sites of the ligaments holding the flexor digitorum profundus and superficialis muscles (flexor ridges) in proximal phalanges 2-5 of African apes and modern humans. To interpret differences in flexor ridge size based on general behavioral differences among taxa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ) were compared within and across genera. RESULTS: Gorillas and chimpanzees had larger flexor ridges for phalanges 2-4 than humans and this difference subsists when controlling for body size. Each genus had a unique insertion size pattern across the digits, with the most heterogeneous pattern found in chimpanzees, followed by humans, and lastly gorillas. These patterns corresponded strongly to the differences in the size of the phalanges within each genus, except for phalanx 5 in humans, which had a larger flexor ridge than expected. DISCUSSION: When comparing these genera, the flexor ridges signal differences between taxa that use their hands for manipulation and locomotion (gorillas and chimpanzees) and taxa that use them exclusively for manipulation (humans). This functional signal was also apparent in the PP5 of humans, whose larger FR may be indicating the high recruitment of this digit during forceful precision grip characteristic of humans

Biological evolution · Biology · Evolutionary biology · Genus · Gorilla · Hominidae · Phalanx · Pongidae · Primate · Proximal phalanx · Ridge · Troglodytes · Zoology · Anatomy · Hume's philosophy and hair distribution · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Primate Behavior and Ecology

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