The form of the talus in some higher primates

A multivariate study

Bibliographic Data

ID8313253
AuthorsF P Lisowski (Chinese University of Hong Kong), G H Albrecht, Georg Albrecht (University of Chicago), Charles Oxnard (University of Chicago), C E Oxnard
Year1974
Volume41
Issue2
Pages191-215
Publication date1974-09-01
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.1330410203
PMID4416279
OpenAlexW2002710503
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited20

Sixteen measurements of the talus have been taken on 334 tali of a total of eleven primate groups and several additional single individual specimens. Multivariate morphometric (canonical and generalized distance) analyses of these data in extant higher primates are presented and used to define the relative morphological positions of fossils of the genera Proconsul and Limnopithecus , of individual specimens from Kromdraai, Olduvai and Kiik‐Koba ( Homo neanderthalensis ), and a group of specimens of Bronze Age man from Jericho. Following preliminary studies the ultimate analysis suggests that the various extant arboreal primates examined fall within an envelope that is defined by Macaca together with various other Old World monkeys and extending in different directions to the extreme genera (a) Pongo , (b) Hylobates and (c) Ateles . This separation is thus one which defines generally quadrupedal monkeys and separates the various extreme arboreal locomotor modes of (a) acrobatic climbing and hanging, (b) richochetal brachiation and (c) prehensile‐tailed arm‐swinging and hanging, respectively. Man and the African apes are well separated both from each other and from this spectrum of arboreally adapted genera. Bronze Age man from Jericho and Neandertal man from Kiik‐Koba lie relatively close to the position for modern man although significantly separated from him. Limnopithecus, Proconsul , and the specimens from Kromdraai and Olduvai all lie within the envelope of arboreal species and specifically rather close to, although significantly different from, the orang‐utan; they differ markedly from both man and the African apes. The possibility exists that the resemblances of Proconsul and Limnopithecus relate to arboreal habitus in these species. The findings for the specimens from Kromdraai and Olduvai suggest either that the morphological resemblances to arboreal forms relate to a previous arboreal history for these species, or that bipedality is much less advanced or uniquely different from that displayed by Homo . It is not inconceivable that both conditions might apply

Arboreal locomotion · Biology · Bipedalism · Evolutionary biology · Extant taxon · Habitat · Hylobates · Pongo pygmaeus · Primate · Quadrupedalism · Zoology · Amphibian and Reptile Biology · Anatomy · Ecology · Paleontology · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

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