An Introduction to Biomechanical Principles in Primate Locomotion and Structure

Badoux, D. M.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-384050-9.50006-4

Cited by 30 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…As discussed above, medial paraxony as displayed by most fossorial hystricognaths has been connected with burrowing habits. Ectaxonic hands are often found in arboreal mammals (Ginsburg 1961;Badoux 1974;Cartmill 1985;Walker 1974). Even though arboreal and scansorial species tend to have slightly longer fourth phalanges, this is not a distinctive feature of arboreal species since many terrestrial and cursorial taxa have similar proportions of the second and fourth digital ray.…”

Section: Phalangeal Indices and Digital Ray Proportionsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Autopodial skeletal diversity in hystricognath rodents: Functional and phylogenetic aspects

Weisbecker

Schmid

2007

Mammalian Biology

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Metapodials and phalanges of the second to fourth digital ray were measured for the hands and feet of 214 specimens belonging to 45 extant species of hystricognath rodents, encompassing members of all major clades of the radiation. Principal components analysis (PCA), the phalangeal index of the third digital ray in the hands and feet, and the relationship between second and fourth digital ray were used to investigate intrinsic autopodial proportions as well as to provide a base for comparisons between hands and feet. PCA separated cursorial Hystricognathi from arboreal ones, but lead to little distinction in other locomotory modes. Cursors have longer metapodials and shorter phalanges, particularly in their hind limb, while arboreal species have relatively longer manual and pedal phalanges. Terrestrial, scansorial, fossorial, and semi-aquatic species were not clearly distinguished, but there is a tendency towards elongated manual digits and relatively short feet in most fossorial species. Closely related species with similar locomotory habits tend to group together in PCA morphospace, and also have similar phalangeal indices. The results are in agreement with current hypotheses on locomotory adaptations of the hand and foot, and concur with many previous findings on autopodial proportions in arboreal, cursorial, and fossorial species. They also highlight the limited use of autopodial proportions for inferring systematic affinities. The lack of distinction in the majority of species is likely related to the lack of highly specialized locomotory types in Hystricognathi.

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Section: Phalangeal Indices and Digital Ray Proportionsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Autopodial skeletal diversity in hystricognath rodents: Functional and phylogenetic aspects

Weisbecker

Schmid

2007

Mammalian Biology

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“…Although biomechanical modeling of the pelvis in non‐human primates has not been a major subject of study, two basic interrelated models have been proposed (Badoux, ; Kummer, ; Pauwels, ), and are used here as a basis for deriving adaptive hypotheses of form–function relationships between pelvic shape and locomotion.…”

Section: Pelvic and Locomotor Mechanicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pelvic Form and Locomotor Adaptation in Strepsirrhine Primates

Lewton

2014

The Anatomical Record

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The pelvic girdle is a complex structure with a critical role in locomotion, but efforts to model the mechanical effects of locomotion on its shape remain difficult. Traditional approaches to understanding form and function include univariate adaptive hypothesis-testing derived from mechanical models. Geometric morphometric (GM) methods can yield novel insight into overall three-dimensional shape similarities and differences across groups, although the utility of GM in assessing functional differences has been questioned. This study evaluates the contributions of both univariate and GM approaches to unraveling the trait-function associations between pelvic form and locomotion. Three-dimensional landmarks were collected on a phylogenetically-broad sample of 180 pelves from nine primate taxa. Euclidean interlandmark distances were calculated to facilitate testing of biomechanical hypotheses, and a principal components (PC) analysis was performed on Procrustes coordinates to examine overall shape differences. Both linear dimensions and PC scores were subjected to phylogenetic ANOVA. Many of the null hypotheses relating linear dimensions to locomotor loading were not rejected. Although both analytical approaches suggest that ilium width and robusticity differ among locomotor groups, the GM analysis also suggests that ischiopubic shape differentiates groups. Although GM provides additional quantitative results beyond the univariate analyses, this study highlights the need for new GM methods to more specifically address functional shape differences among species. Until these methods are developed, it would be prudent to accompany tests of directional biomechanical hypotheses with current GM methods for a more nuanced understanding of shape and function. Anat Rec, 298:230-248, 2015. V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Key words: adaptation; geometric morphometrics; pelvis; primates; locomotion; functionThe identification of adaptation to biological function has been a goal of evolutionary biology since the time of Darwin. Within the field of biological anthropology, adaptations to diet and/or locomotion have been examined via hypothesis-testing of craniodental anatomy (Lieberman and Crompton, 2000;Ravosa et al., 2000;Daegling and McGraw, 2001;Spencer, 2003;Vinyard et al., 2003;Terhune, 2013), shoulder anatomy (Taylor, 1997), long bone morphology (Fleagle, 1976;Polk, 2002), and hand and foot anatomy (Orr, 2005;Patel, 2010;Tocheri et al., 2011). However, systematic hypothesistesting of pelvic adaptations has been relatively limited because the mechanical rules that govern pelvic shape are not well understood.Among other requirements, identifying morphological adaptations necessitates a clear association between a morphological trait and its presumed function, as well as evidence that the trait performs the function (e.g., Kay and Cartmill, 1977;Anthony and Kay, 1993). The comparative method is used to distinguish form-function correlations in broad samples of extant taxa (Felsenstein, 1985;Harvey and Pagel, 1991;Ross...

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“…Vertebral centra (i.e., vertebral bodies) transmit compressive forces in the craniocaudal direction through the intervertebral discs (Badoux 1974;Ward 1993). The size of the intervertebral discs is correlated with the centrum cranial and caudal articular areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling of lumbar vertebrae in anthropoids and implications for evolution of the hominoid axial skeleton

Nakatsukasa

Hirose

2003

Primates

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We investigated allometric relationships between vertebral centrum cranial surface areas and body weight and skeletal lumbar length in extant platyrrhine and cercopithecid species. Platyrrhines have smaller lumbar vertebral centra regarding the cranial surface area relative to their body weight than extant catarrhines. However, the stress to the spine of quadrupeds is not only influenced by the body weight but also its length, which contributes to the amount of bending moment. Our results indicated that platyrrhines and cercopithecids have similar lumbar vertebral centrum surface areas when they are scaled on the product of the body weight and skeletal lumbar length. Platyrrhines generally tend to have relatively short lumbar columns for a given body weight. As a result of this tendency, their vertebral centra appear relatively small if only body weight is taken into account. The centrum surface area is rather constant relative to the product of the body weight and skeletal lumbar length within platyrrhines or cercopithecids, despite the fact that skeletal lumbar length is in itself rather variable relative to body weight. This result indicates that the vertebral centrum articular area, the lumbar column length and the body weight are strongly correlated with each other and that such relationships are similar between platyrrhines and cercopithecids. These relationships were observed using both the zygapophyseal and rib definitions of the lumbar vertebrae. However, they were more clearly observed when the zygapophyseal definition was adopted. It appeared that lumbar vertebrae of Proconsul nyanzae (KNM)MW 13142) had distinctively smaller surface areas relative to its body weight and lumbar length than for platyrrhines and cercopithecids, differing from extant hominoids, which have comparatively larger lumbar vertebrae. In the case of Morotopithecus, the lumbar vertebral surface area seems to be as large as in extant platyrrhines and cercopithecids if it had a reduced number of lumbar vertebrae. It is uncertain whether its lumbar vertebral surface area was as large as in extant hominoids.

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An Introduction to Biomechanical Principles in Primate Locomotion and Structure

Cited by 30 publications

References 2 publications

Autopodial skeletal diversity in hystricognath rodents: Functional and phylogenetic aspects

Autopodial skeletal diversity in hystricognath rodents: Functional and phylogenetic aspects

Pelvic Form and Locomotor Adaptation in Strepsirrhine Primates

Scaling of lumbar vertebrae in anthropoids and implications for evolution of the hominoid axial skeleton

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