Journal ArticleJ Exp Biol · September 15, 2024
Jumping is a crucial behavior in fitness-critical activities including locomotion, resource acquisition, courtship displays and predator avoidance. In primates, paleontological evidence suggests selection for enhanced jumping ability during their early evo ...
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Journal ArticleFrontiers in Earth Science · January 1, 2024
Introduction: The human foot has evolved over the past seven million years from a relatively mobile, grasping appendage to a highly derived structure with a heel pad and longitudinal arch that can absorb shock at heel strike and weight-bearing yet also fun ...
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Journal ArticleJournal of human evolution · July 2023
Morphological traits suggesting powerful jumping abilities are characteristic of early crown primate fossils. Because tree squirrels lack certain 'primatelike' grasping features but frequently travel on the narrow terminal branches of trees, they make a vi ...
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Journal ArticleJournal of anatomy · July 2022
The trabecular bone morphology of adult extant primates has been shown to reflect mechanical loading related to locomotion. However, ontogenetic studies of humans and other mammals suggest an adaptive lag between trabecular bone response and current mechan ...
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Journal ArticleFASEB J · May 2022
Human bipedal locomotion is unique, requiring a suite of musculoskeletal adaptations that were acquired gradually throughout hominin evolution. For example, lordotic lumbar spines move the center of mass over the hip joint and resists axial compression, sh ...
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Journal ArticleEvolution; international journal of organic evolution · November 2021
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African apes engage in a distinct form of locomotion called knuckle-walking, but there is much ambiguity as to when and how this locomotor behavior evolved. This study aims to elucidate potential differences in knuckle-walking elbow posture and loading in ...
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Journal ArticleAmerican journal of physical anthropology · October 2021
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ObjectivesFoot and ankle dysfunction in barefoot/minimally shod populations remains understudied. Although factors affecting musculoskeletal pain in Western populations are well-studied, little is known about how types of work, gender, and body sh ...
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Journal ArticleJournal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · June 2021
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Total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is a common surgical approach for patients with end-stage ankle osteoarthritis (OA). However, very little is known about the path of the center of pressure (COP) of the foot, and thus important aspects of load transfer, muscl ...
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Journal ArticleJournal of human evolution · August 2020
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The initiation of a walking step with a heel strike is a defining characteristic of humans and great apes but is rarely found in other mammals. Despite the considerable importance of heel strike to an understanding of human locomotor evolution, no one has ...
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ConferenceThe FASEB Journal · April 2020
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The forward motion of terrestrial vertebrates can be divided into stride lengths (distance traveled by the body from touchdown to the next touchdown of a limb) which is the sum of the lengths of stance and swing phases for e ...
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Journal ArticleGait & posture · January 2018
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The assumption that the morphology of the human calcaneus reflects high and cyclical impact forces at heel strike during adult human walking has never been experimentally tested. Since a walking step with a heel strike is an emergent behavior in children, ...
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Journal ArticleThe Journal of experimental biology · January 2018
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During quadrupedal walking in most animals, the forelimbs play a net braking role, whereas the hindlimbs are net propulsive. However, the mechanism by which this differentiation occurs remains unclear. Here, we test two models to explain this pattern using ...
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Journal ArticleComptes Rendus - Palevol · August 1, 2017
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Reconstructing function from hominin fossils is complicated by disagreements over how to interpret primitively inherited, ape-like morphology. This has led to considerable research on aspects of skeletal morphology that may be sensitive to activity levels ...
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Journal ArticleAmerican journal of physical anthropology · September 2016
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ObjectivesPrevious studies suggest that the postures habitually adopted by an animal influence the mechanical loading of its long bones. Relatively extended limb postures in larger animals should preferentially reduce anteroposterior (A-P) relativ ...
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Chapter · August 10, 2016
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Labeling the primate hand as “primitive” can seem counterintuitive given the
remarkable dexterity typical of primates and especially humans. In addition, there
is considerable diversity in primate hand form and use that allows the exploitation
of . ...
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Journal ArticleJournal of human evolution · August 2016
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Australopithecus africanus has been interpreted as having a rigid lateral foot. One mechanism contributing to a rigid foot during push-off in humans is a calcaneocuboid joint (CCJ) with limited dorsiflexion and a "close-packed" talocalcaneal joint (TCJ). I ...
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Journal ArticleJournal of human evolution · June 2011
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Great apes and humans use their hands in fundamentally different ways, but little is known about joint biomechanics and internal bone variation. This study examines the distribution of mineral density in the third metacarpal heads in three hominoid species ...
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