StW 573 Australopithecus prometheus: Its Significance for an Australopith Bauplan.

Autor: Crompton RH; Department of Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, Institute of Life Course & Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, The W.H. Duncan Building, Liverpool, United Kingdom.; School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom., McClymont J; Department of Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, Institute of Life Course & Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, The W.H. Duncan Building, Liverpool, United Kingdom., Elton S; Department of Anthropology, Dawson Building, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom., Thorpe S; School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston/Birmingham, United Kingdom., Sellers W; School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom., Heaton J; Department of Biology, Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa., Pickering TR; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.; Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA., Pataky T; Department of Human Health Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan., Carlson KJ; Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences,Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa., Jashashvili T; Molecular Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.; Department of Geology and Paleontology, Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia.; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa., Beaudet A; Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom., Bruxelles L; TRACES, UMR 5608 CNRS, Jean Jaurès University, Toulouse, France.; French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), Nîmes, France.; School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa., Goh E; Department of Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, Institute of Life Course & Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, The W.H. Duncan Building, Liverpool, United Kingdom., Kuman K; School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa., Clarke R; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology [Folia Primatol (Basel)] 2021; Vol. 92 (5-6), pp. 243-275. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Sep 28.
DOI: 10.1159/000519723
Abstrakt: The StW 573 skeleton of Australopithecus prometheus from Sterkfontein Member 2 is some 93% complete and thus by far the most complete member of that genus yet found. Firmly dated at 3.67 Ma, it is one of the earliest specimens of its genus. A crucial aspect of interpretation of locomotor behaviour from fossil remains is an understanding of the palaeoenvironment in which the individual lived and the manner in which it would have used it. While the value of this ecomorphological approach is largely accepted, it has not been widely used as a stable framework on which to build evolutionary biomechanical interpretations. Here, we collate the available evidence on StW 573's anatomy in order, as far as currently possible, to reconstruct what might have been this individual's realized and potential niche. We explore the concept of a common Australopithecus "bauplan" by comparing the morphology and ecological context of StW 573 to that of paenocontemporaneous australopiths including Australopithecus anamensis and KSD-VP-1/1 Australopithecus afarensis. Each was probably substantially arboreal and woodland-dwelling, relying substantially on arboreal resources. We use a hypothesis-driven approach, tested by: virtual experiments, in the case of extinct species; biomechanical analyses of the locomotor behaviour of living great ape species; and analogical experiments with human subjects. From these, we conclude that the habitual locomotor mode of all australopiths was upright bipedalism, whether on the ground or on branches. Some later australopiths such as Australopithecus sediba undoubtedly became more terrestrial, allowing sacrifice of arboreal stability in favour of manual dexterity. Indeed, modern humans retain arboreal climbing skills but have further sacrificed arboreal effectiveness for enhanced ability to sustain striding terrestrial bipedalism over much greater distances. We compare StW 573's locomotor adaptations to those of living great apes and protohominins, and agree with those earlier observers who suggest that the common panin-hominin last common ancestor was postcranially more like Gorilla than Pan.
(© 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje