Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Independent evolution of knuckle-walking in African apes shows that humans did not evolve from a knuckle-walking ancestor.

Kivell, Tracy L., Schmitt, Daniel (2009) Independent evolution of knuckle-walking in African apes shows that humans did not evolve from a knuckle-walking ancestor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106 (34). pp. 14241-14246. ISSN 1091-6490. (doi:10.1073/pnas.0901280106) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:43705)

PDF (Restricted - Publisher's version/PDF cannot be used in a repository) Publisher pdf
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
[thumbnail of Restricted - Publisher's version/PDF cannot be used in a repository]
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0901280106

Abstract

Despite decades of debate, it remains unclear whether human bipedalism evolved from a terrestrial knuckle-walking ancestor or from a more generalized, arboreal ape ancestor. Proponents of the knuckle-walking hypothesis focused on the wrist and hand to find morphological evidence of this behavior in the human fossil record. These studies, however, have not examined variation or development of purported knuckle-walking features in apes or other primates, data that are critical to resolution of this long-standing debate. Here we present novel data on the frequency and development of putative knuckle-walking features of the wrist in apes and monkeys. We use these data to test the hypothesis that all knuckle-walking apes share similar anatomical features and that these features can be used to reliably infer locomotor behavior in our extinct ancestors. Contrary to previous expectations, features long-assumed to indicate knuckle-walking behavior are not found in all African apes, show different developmental patterns across species, and are found in nonknuckle-walking primates as well. However, variation among African ape wrist morphology can be clearly explained if we accept the likely independent evolution of 2 fundamentally different biomechanical modes of knuckle-walking: an extended wrist posture in an arboreal environment (Pan) versus a neutral, columnar hand posture in a terrestrial environment (Gorilla). The presence of purported knuckle-walking features in the hominin wrist can thus be viewed as evidence of arboreality, not terrestriality, and provide evidence that human bipedalism evolved from a more arboreal ancestor occupying the ecological niche common to all living apes.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1073/pnas.0901280106
Uncontrolled keywords: Bipedalism, development, hominoid, homoplasy, wrist
Subjects: Q Science
Q Science > QH Natural history
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Q Science > QM Human anatomy
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Depositing User: Tracy Kivell
Date Deposited: 25 Oct 2014 13:24 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:17 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/43705 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.