| Abstrakt: |
PHOTO (COLOR): Researchers used 3D modeling software to reconstruct a critical thumb muscle, the opponens pollicis (depicted here), in the fossils of ancient hominins. To analyze ancient thumbs on their own terms, paleoanthropologists at the University of Tübingen digitized the fossil thumb bones from a variety of ancient hominins, a group that includes all species in our own genus, I Homo i , as well as other very closely related species. He notes there are more than 10 different muscles that contribute to thumb movement, and it's possible that weaker opponens pollicis in some species may have been compensated for by some other muscle or muscles. [Extracted from the article] |
