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Can I read Ontogeny and phylogeny of femoro-tibial characters in humans and hominid fossils: Functional influence and genetic determinism on EtoBox?
Ontogeny and phylogeny of femoro-tibial characters in humans and hominid fossils: Functional influence and genetic determinism by Tardieu, Christine is a Arts and Humanities article available to read on EtoBox.
What is Ontogeny and phylogeny of femoro-tibial characters in humans and hominid fossils: Functional influence and genetic determinism about?
Three different human femoro-tibial characters are selected as functionally relevant and derived hominid characters: femoral bicondylar angle, shape of the femoral distal epiphysis, and the tibial insertion of the lateral meniscus. The timing and mode of formation of these characters are investigated during human ontogeny and are shown to differ considerably. The available hominid fossils (Australopithecus afarensis and early Homo) are interpreted in the light of this ontogenetic analysis with the conclusion that, during hominid evolution, different modes of selection of these features must have occurred. In modern humans, the femoral bicondylar angle proves to be an epigenetic functional feature, which develops during early childhood growth. It is present in all australopithecines and we suggest that it developed following a change in their locomotor behavior and not upon a genomic change: the early practice of bipedal walking, with adducted knee joints, in the locomotor repertoire of infant australopithecines, was sufficient to promote this angle. Later in hominid evolution, the knee joint evolved from having a single insertion of the lateral meniscus on the tibia to a double one
Who reads Ontogeny and phylogeny of femoro-tibial characters in humans and hominid fossils: Functional influence and genetic determinism?
It is typically read by researchers, students, and practitioners in Arts and Humanities.
- Author
- Tardieu, Christine
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons; Wiley (John Wiley & Sons); John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Wiley; Research Square (ISSN 0002-9483)
- Published
- 1999
- Language
- EN
- Field
- Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)