American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 2002 · 213 citations · 90 references
Life SciencesAnatomyBiologyBiological AnthropologyComparative AnatomyVertebrate PaleontologyComparative BiomechanicsComparative OsteologyFunctional MorphologyHominin Fossil RecordHuman PhylogenySkeletal BiologyBipedal Limb AnatomyComparative Limb AnatomyComparative Limb MorphologyHuman Locomotor EvolutionLinear Discriminant AnalysisPrimate Locomotor EvolutionPrimate Morphological EvolutionWalking
The proximal femur MAK‑VP‑1/1 from the 3.4‑million‑year‑old Maka Sands provides the earliest skeletal evidence of locomotion in *Australopithecus afarensis*. The authors analyze the femur using X‑ray, CT, and metric data, applying morphogenetic and discriminant‑function techniques to assess locomotor morphology. The femur’s hip joint and muscle‑allocation pattern match modern humans, indicating that *A. afarensis* already possessed a highly derived bipedal locomotor system with no evidence of alternative movement.
Abstract MAK‐VP‐1/1, a proximal femur recovered from the Maka Sands (ca. 3.4 mya) of the Middle Awash, Ethiopia, and attributed to Australopithecus afarensis , is described in detail. It represents the oldest skeletal evidence of locomotion in this species, and is analyzed from a morphogenetic perspective. X‐ray, CT, and metric data are evaluated, using a variety of methods including discriminant function. The specimen indicates that the hip joint of A. afarensis was remarkably like that of modern humans, and that the dramatic muscle allocation shifts which distinguish living humans and African apes were already present in a highly derived form in this species. Its anatomy provides no indication of any form of locomotion save habitual terrestrial bipedality, which very probably differed only trivially from that of modern humans. Am J Phys Anthropol 119:97–133, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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