ReviewJournal of anatomy2008
The evolutionary history of the hominin hand since the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo.
Review in Journal of anatomy, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 223 citations in OpenAlex.
- African ape carpal morphology is not too specialized to represent the ancestral hominin carpus.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Homo luzonensis and the role of homoplasy in the morphology of hominin insular species.Cladistics : the international journal of the Willi Hennig Society · 2026Article
- Modular genetic architecture underlies human hand and foot evolution.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Whole-bone shape of hominoid manual proximal phalanges.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Article
- New fossils reveal the hand of Paranthropus boisei.Nature · 2025Article
- Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence for African ape-like vertical climbing in the earliest hominins.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Costs of Early Stone Toolmaking cannot Establish the Presence of Know-how Copying.Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Phalangeal cortical bone distribution reveals different dexterous and climbing behaviors inScience advances · 2025Article
- Back(s) to basics: The concept of backing in stone tool technologies for tracing hominins' technical innovations.Evolutionary anthropology · 2024Review
- Neuroimaging genomics as a window into the evolution of human sulcal organization.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
- Comparative anatomy of theFrontiers in physiology · 2024Article
- Design and development of a sensorized hammerstone for accurate force measurement in stone knapping experiments.PloS one · 2024Article
- Cortical bone distribution of the proximal phalanges in great apes: implications for reconstructing manual behaviours.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Hafted technologies likely reduced stone tool-related selective pressures acting on the hominin hand.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- A geometric morphometric approach to investigate primate proximal phalanx diaphysis shape.American journal of biological anthropology · 2022Article
- Tactile distance anisotropy on the feet.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2021Article
- Cortical and trabecular bone structure of the hominoid capitate.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- Biomechanics of the human thumb and the evolution of dexterity.Current biology : CB · 2021Article
- The forearm and hand musculature of semi-terrestrial rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and arboreal gibbons (fam.Hylobatidae). Part II. Quantitative analysis.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Molecular evidence indicates that the last common ancestor of the genus Pan and the hominin clade existed between 8 and 4 million years ago (Ma). The current fossil record indicates the Pan-Homo last common ancestor existed at least 5 Ma and most likely between 6 and 7 Ma. Together, the molecular and fossil evidence has important consequences for interpreting the evolutionary history of the hand within the tribe Hominini (hominins). Firstly, parsimony supports the hypothesis that the hand of the last common ancestor most likely resembled that of an extant great ape overall (Pan, Gorilla, and Pongo), and that of an African ape in particular. Second, it provides a context for interpreting the derived changes to the hand that have evolved in various hominins. For example, the Australopithecus afarensis hand is likely derived in comparison with that of the Pan-Homo last common ancestor in having shorter fingers relative to thumb length and more proximo-distally oriented joints between its capitate, second metacarpal, and trapezium. This evidence suggests that these derived features evolved prior to the intensification of stone tool-related hominin behaviors beginning around 2.5 Ma. However, a majority of primitive features most likely present in the Pan-Homo last common ancestor are retained in the hands of Australopithecus, Paranthropus/early Homo, and Homo floresiensis. This evidence suggests that further derived changes to the hands of other hominins such as modern humans and Neandertals did not evolve until after 2.5 Ma and possibly even later than 1.5 Ma, which is currently the earliest evidence of Acheulian technology. The derived hands of modern humans and Neandertals may indicate a morphological commitment to tool-related manipulative behaviors beyond that observed in other hominins, including those (e.g. H. floresiensis) which may be descended from earlier tool-making species.
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