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Talocrural joint in African hominoids: Implications for Australopithecus afarensis
Author(s) -
Latimer Bruce,
Ohman James C.,
Lovejoy C. Owen
Publication year - 1987
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.1330740204
Subject(s) - bipedalism , australopithecus , hominidae , ankle , evolutionary developmental biology , paleoanthropology , biology , joint (building) , evolutionary biology , anatomy , biological evolution , paleontology , architectural engineering , genetics , engineering
Talocrural joints of the African apes, modern humans, and A.L.288‐1 are compared in order to investigate ankle function in the Hadar hominids. Comparisons between the hominids and African pongids clearly illustrate the anatomical and mechanical changes that occurred in this joint as a consequence of the evolutionary transition to habitual bipedality. Features which are considered include the obliquity of the distal tibial articular surface, the shape of the talar trochlea, and the location and functional implications of the talocrural axis. In every functionally significant feature examined the A.L.288‐1 talocrural joint is fully bipedal. Moreover, the Hadar ankle complex also shows the functional constraints which are necessarily imposed by the adaptation to habitual bipedalism.