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The ischium and hip extensor mechanism in human evolution
Author(s) -
McHenry Henry M.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330430107
Subject(s) - ischium , climbing , interpretation (philosophy) , mechanism (biology) , hamstring , paleontology , hamstring muscles , geology , anatomy , geography , computer science , biology , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology , medicine , physical medicine and rehabilitation , pelvis , programming language
Although it is commonly stated that the ischia of the late Pliocene–early Pleistocene hominid fossils are long and ape‐like, new interpretations show this view to be fallacious. An important new theory proposed by Robinson concludes that the gracile form of early hominid was an efficient biped, but the robust form was a less efficient biped and was adapted for tree climbing. Interpretation of the ischium is crucial to this idea. The present study shows that (1) the gracile and robust australopithecine ischia had similar relative lengths and (2) that the hamstring mechanism was probably very similar in the two forms of South African early hominid.