On the Relationships and Adaptations of Kenyapithecus, a Large-Bodied Hominoid from the Middle Miocene of Eastern Africa

McCrossin, Monte L.; Benefit, Brenda R.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0075-3_12

Cited by 77 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In fact, many of the features related to compressive weight-bearing and the limitation of metacarpophalangeal and wrist extension could, theoretically, be useful adaptations in a digitigrade quadruped (Sarmiento, 1988). The recent report of African-apelike features of the metacarpal head and radius of Equatorius (Kenyapithecus) from Maboko Island (Mc-Crossin et al, 1998), in an otherwise cercopithecoidlike semiterrestrial skeleton (McCrossin and Benefit, 1997), supports this idea. However, the African-apelike affinities of these postcranial fossils have yet to be established.…”

Section: Origin Of Bipedalismmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Although it has also been suggested that this hominoid possesses knuckle-walking adaptations (McCrossin et al, 1998), the evidence from the metacarpal head and fragmentary distal radius so far presented is distinct from that in African apes. It would be unlikely that the knuckle-walking morphology observed in African apes could have evolved from an otherwise quite cercopithecoid-like semiterrestrial skeleton (McCrossin and Benefit, 1997). It is far more likely that knuckle-walking evolved from an arboreal ancestor as a solution for terrestrial travel while maintaining functional competence in climbing (Tuttle, 1975).…”

Section: Terrestrial Quadruped Ancestormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is far more likely that knuckle-walking evolved from an arboreal ancestor as a solution for terrestrial travel while maintaining functional competence in climbing (Tuttle, 1975). Equatorius (Kenyapithecus) appears to be too distantly related to African apes, and its skeleton is too primitive, to make a very good model for the LCA of African apes and humans (McCrossin and Benefit, 1997;Begun et al, 1997;Ward et al, 1999b;but see McCrossin et al, 1998).…”

Section: Terrestrial Quadruped Ancestormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although less frequently discussed, most metacarpophalangeal features are also problematic because they are not specific to knuckle-walking anthropoids (McCrossin and Benefit, 1997). Some metacarpal characteristics also occur in terrestrial digitigrade anthropoids, such as large individuals of Mandrillus and Papio (Fig.…”

Section: Origin Of Bipedalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited

Richmond

Begun

Strait

2001

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

116

191

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Some of the most long-standing questions in paleoanthropology concern how and why human bipedalism evolved. Over the last century, many hypotheses have been offered on the mode of locomotion from which bipedalism originated. Candidate ancestral adaptations include monkey-like arboreal or terrestrial quadrupedalism, gibbon-or orangutan-like (or other forms of) climbing and suspension, and knuckle-walking. This paper reviews the history of these hypotheses, outlines their predictions, and assesses them in light of current phylogenetic, comparative anatomical, and fossil evidence. The functional significance of characteristics of the shoulder and arm, elbow, wrist, and hand shared by African apes and humans, including their fossil relatives, most strongly supports the knuckle-walking hypothesis, which reconstructs the ancestor as being adapted to knuckle-walking and arboreal climbing. Future fossil discoveries, and a clear understanding of anthropoid locomotor anatomy, are required to ultimately test these hypotheses. If knucklewalking was an important component of the behavioral repertoire of the prebipedal human ancestor, then we can reject scenarios on the origin of bipedalism that rely on a strictly arboreal ancestor. Moreover, paleoenvironmental data associated with the earliest hominins, and their close relatives, contradict hypotheses that place the agents of selection for bipedality in open savanna habitats. Existing hypotheses must explain why bipedalism would evolve from an ancestor that was already partly terrestrial. Many food acquisition and carrying hypotheses remain tenable in light of current evidence.

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Section: Origin Of Bipedalismmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Terrestrial Quadruped Ancestormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Terrestrial Quadruped Ancestormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Origin Of Bipedalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited

Richmond

Begun

Strait

2001

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

116

191

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Clearly, primates of this size, living in relatively open canopy woodlands, would have had to spend part of their time on the ground. The thick enamel of their teeth suggest a harder, coarser fruit and nut diet compared with proconsulids (Tekkaya, 1974;Alpagut et al, 1990Alpagut et al, , 1996Teaford, 1988Teaford, , 1991Harrison, 1992;McCrossin and Benefit, 1997;McCrossin et al, 1998;Nakatsukasa et al, 1998Nakatsukasa et al, , 2007Begun and Güleç, 1998;King et al, 1999;Ishida et al, 1999Ishida et al, , 2004Ward, 1993;Ward et al, 1995;Kelley et al, 2000Kelley et al, , 2002Kelley et al, , 2008Kelley, 2002Kelley, , 2008Ungar, 2007;Ersoy et al, 2008;Nakatsukasa, 2008).…”

Section: Morphology Of Fossil Apesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gibbons and hominoid ancestry

Andrews¹,

Johnson²

2015

Taxonomic Tapestries: The Threads of Evolutionary, Behavioural and Conservation Research

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First hominoid from the Miocene of Ethiopia and the evolution of the catarrhine elbow

Richmond

Fleagle

Kappelman

et al. 1998

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

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The first known fossil ape from the early-middle Miocene of Fejej, Ethiopia, is described here. The specimen, FJ-18SB-68, is a partial ulna from a locality dated by 40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic methods to a minimum age of 16.18 MYA. Compared to a variety of extant and fossil ulnae, FJ-18SB-68 is most similar to Turkanapithecus, Proconsul, and Pliopithecus, and appears to have been an arboreal quadruped with substantial forearm rotational mobility. Among the extant ulnae, canonical variates analysis successfully discriminates platyrrhines from catarrhines and within the latter, cercopithecoids from hominoids. Basal catarrhines (e.g., Aegyptopithecus) are platyrrhine-like in their morphology. Two basic trends appear to evolve from this generalized template: one with less mobile and more habitually pronated forearms, as seen in living and fossil cercopithecoids (including Victoriapithecus and Paracolobus), and another with greater forearm rotational mobility in fossil and modern hominoids. Primitive Miocene apes, including Proconsul, Turkanapithecus, and FJ-18SB-68, share with extant hominoids a more laterally positioned and laterally facing radial notch and an incipient trochlear keel. This morphology, along with a large insertion area for m. brachialis, suggests a departure from the more habitually pronated hand posture of monkeys and may indicate greater climbing abilities in these arboreally quadrupedal apes. Later Miocene apes, such as Oreopithecus and Dryopithecus share additional morphological features with hominoids, indicating considerable suspensory and climbing capabilities.

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On the Relationships and Adaptations of Kenyapithecus, a Large-Bodied Hominoid from the Middle Miocene of Eastern Africa

Cited by 77 publications

References 27 publications

Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited

Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited

Gibbons and hominoid ancestry

First hominoid from the Miocene of Ethiopia and the evolution of the catarrhine elbow

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