Hominid footprints at laetoli
Facts and interpretations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8316906 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tim D White (0000-0003-1266-7489, University of California, Berkeley), Gen Suwa (0000-0003-3880-2458, University of California, Berkeley) |
| Year | 1987 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 485-514 |
| Publication date | 1987-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ajpa.1330720409 |
| PMID | 3111270 |
| OpenAlex | W2052480672 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 85 |
| References cited | 56 |
The history of discovery and interpretation of primate footprints at the site of Laetoli in northern Tanzania is reviewed. An analysis of the geological context of these tracks is provided. The hominid tracks in Tuff 7 at Site G in the Garusi River Valley demonstrate bipedality at a mid‐Pliocene datum. Comparison of these tracks and the Hadar hominid foot fossils by Tuttle has led him to conclude that Australopithecus afarensis did not make the Tanzanian prints and that a more derived form of hominid is therefore indicated at Laetoli. An alternative interpretation has been offered by Stern and Susman who posit a conforming “transitional morphology” in both the Tanzanian prints and the Ethiopian bones. The present study examines both hypotheses and shows that neither is likely to be entirely correct. To illustrate this point, a reconstruction of the foot skeleton of a female A. afarensis is undertaken, and the results are compared to the Laetoli tracks. We conclude that A. afarensis represents the best candidate for the maker of the Laetoli hominid trails
Archaeology · Biological evolution · Biology · Bipedalism · Context (archaeology) · Geography · Hominidae · Interpretation (philosophy) · Computer Science · Geology · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Uplifted Head, Free Hands, and the Evolution of Human Walking
Fossilized Hawaiian Footprints Compared with Laetoli Hominid Footprints
In What Manner Did They Walk on Two Legs?
The AL 333-160 fourth metatarsal from Hadar compared to that of humans, great apes, baboons and proboscis monkeys
Reconstructing Bipedal Locomotion of Fossil Hominids Using Biomechanics
Present state of mankind systematics in early stage
Vedic Creationism
Environmental Change within the Laetoli Fossiliferous Sequence
Origin of Bipedal Locomotion
Literaturverzeichnis
Major Events in Hominin Evolution
Fossils, feet and the evolution of human bipedal locomotion
Early Hominin Foot Morphology Based on 1.5-Million-Year-Old Footprints from Ileret, Kenya
A new hominin foot from Ethiopia shows multiple Pliocene bipedal adaptations
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Combining Prehension and Propulsion
An early Australopithecus afarensis postcranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia
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The foot of Homo floresiensis
The Great Divides
Swift and sure-footed on the Savanna
Agency at a distance
Evolution of femur and tibia in higher primates
The australopithecines in review
Laetoli toes andAustralopithecus afarensis
Further progress on the Laetoli trails
Arboreal Origin of Bipedalism
Functional Interpretation of the Laetoli Footprints
Recent Evolution of the Human Foot
The Origins of Bipedal Locomotion
The Origins of Bipedal Locomotion
Laetoli Revisited
Postural and Locomotor Adaptations of Australopithecus Species
Hominins from the Upper Laetolil and Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli
The Early Hominin Foot
The Evolution of Language
Broken fingers
Four-Field Co-evolutionary Model for Human Cognition
Relationship between trackmakers of the Laetoli footprints from gait synchronization
Local people’s interpretations of the hominin footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania
Integrating a Landscape Approach for the Sustainable Preservation of Laetoli Footprints
Fossil footprints and what they mean for hominin paleobiology
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Climbing to the top
From footprint morphometrics to the stature of fossil hominins
Hominin stature, body mass, and walking speed estimates based on 1.5 million-year-old fossil footprints at Ileret, Kenya
Lucy” redux
One small step
Party composition and dynamics inPan paniscus
The Evolution of Emotions in Humans
Understanding the evolution of the windlass mechanism of the human foot from comparative anatomy
Revisiting the “midtarsal break”
Can we really walk straight
Origin of the human canine
Creeping patterns of human adults and infants
Holocene footprints in Namibia
Status ofAustralopithecus afarensis
Lucy's length
Earliest complete hominin fifth metatarsal—Implications for the evolution of the lateral column of the foot
Hallucal tarsometatarsal joint in Australopithecus afarensis
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Associated Australopithecus afarensis second and third metatarsals (A.L. 333-133) from Hadar, Ethiopia
The origin of hominid bipedalism re‐examined
The Laetoli footprints and early hominin locomotor kinematics
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Challenges and perspectives on functional interpretations of australopith postcrania and the reconstruction of hominin locomotion
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Climbing, brachiation, and terrestrial quadrupedalism
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New foot remains from the Gran Dolina-TD6 Early Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)
The morphological affinity of the Early Pleistocene footprints from Happisburgh, England, with other footprints of Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene age
Human origins
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Evolution of the Human Foot
Lucy's limbs
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Pliocene footprints in the Laetolil Beds at Laetoli, northern Tanzania
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The Fossil Evidence for Human Evolution
Hominid Fossils from Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanganyika
Evolution of hominid bipedalism and prehensile capabilities
Lucy
The Shanidar Neandertals
Ancestors
Body proportions, skeletal allometry and locomotion in the hadar hominids
The interpolation of isolated fossil foot bones into a discriminant function analysis—a reply
Functional articulation of some hominoid foot bones
Pliocene hominid gait
Implications of relative robusticity in the Olduvai Metatarsus
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Pliocene hominids from the Hadar formation, Ethiopia (1973–1977)
Affinities of the Swartkrans 847 hominid cranium
New fossil hominids from Laetolil, Tanzania
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Hominid tarsal, metatarsal, and phalangeal bones recovered from the Hadar formation
Some African fossil foot bones
The evolution of the hallucial tarsometatarsal joint in the anthropoidea
Stride length and speed for adults, children, and fossil hominids
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Hominid carpal, metacarpal, and phalangeal bones recovered from the Hadar formation
The locomotor anatomy of Australopithecus afarensis
Additional fossil Hominids from Laetoli, Tanzania
The form of the talus in some higher primates
Hominid lower limb bones recovered from the Hadar formation
Hominid upper limb bones recovered from the Hadar formation
The stature of Australopithecines
The pygmy chimpanzee is not a living missing link in human evolution
Lucy's little legs
Détermination de la stature et de la capacité crânienne
Proportions longitudinales du pied humain comparées à celles du pied des autres primates
Functional Affinities of the Olduvai Hominid 8 Talus
| Unique citing works | 85 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,24 |
| Citation span | 1988 - 2026 (39) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 78 |