The glenohumeral joint of hominoid primates: locomotor correlates, anatomical variation and evolution

The Doctoral Thesis entitled "the glenohumeral joint of hominoid primates: locomotor Correlates, anatomical variation and evolution" is about the anatomical adaptations in the shoulder joint (glenohumeral joint) of hominoid primates. The action of the forces exerted during locomotion model...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Arias Martorell, Júlia
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/286192
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/286192
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Paleoantropologia
Paleoantropología
Paleoanthropology
Primats
Primates
Locomoció humana
Locomoción humana
Human locomotion
Evolució humana
Evolución humana
Human evolution
Morfologia (Biologia)
Morfología (Biología)
Morphology (Biology)
Ciències Experimentals i Matemàtiques
572
Descripción
Sumario:The Doctoral Thesis entitled "the glenohumeral joint of hominoid primates: locomotor Correlates, anatomical variation and evolution" is about the anatomical adaptations in the shoulder joint (glenohumeral joint) of hominoid primates. The action of the forces exerted during locomotion model the shape of the joint determining the range of motion animals can achieve. The hominoid primates stand out as having very mobile joints, with the ability to raise the arm above the shoulder enabling the use of suspensory locomotion, such as brachiation. Here, the morphological characters related to the types of locomotion of extant hominoid primates in the proximal humerus and the glenoid cavity of the scapula were identified. These morphological characters were used to identify locomotor capacities in extinct hominoid taxa and basal Miocene catarrhines, as well as hominins (Plio-Pleistocene human ancestors). Several taxa of basal Miocene catarrhines might have acquired suspensor locomotion without first acquiring an upright body plan (orthogrady), and Plio-Pleistocene hominins showed affinities with extant hominoids but also generalized taxa such as the woolly monkeys (New World primate). Thus hominins Plio-Plesitocene mezcaldas presented (mosaic) morphological affinities, thus supporting the notion that the common ancestor between humans and chimpanzees, as well as many of the ancestral nodes in the hominoid lineage, presented fairly generalized arboreal features, instead of a derived morphology as found in African great apes, in turn related to the use of knuckle-walking locomotion. Thus, knuckle-walking may be a result of convergent evolution gorillas and chimpanzees. Importantly, the PhD provided evidence of decoupling between orthograde characters (upright trunk) and suspensory locomotion. The consequences of this finding regarding the evolutionary history of hominoids is that orthogrady and suspension have been independently acquired by a number hominoid taxa, and is at least result of evolutionary convergence between hylobatids and great apes.