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  • Ardipithecus ramidus ankle

    From Pandora@pandora@knoware.nl to sci.anthropology.paleo on Thu Oct 16 18:22:58 2025
    From Newsgroup: sci.anthropology.paleo

    Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence for African ape-like
    vertical climbing in the earliest hominins

    Abstract

    The origin of the human lineage was catalyzed by bipedalism, but how
    this locomotor mode evolved is debated. We investigated the evolutionary context of human bipedalism by analyzing the morphology of the 4.4 million-year-old hominin talus attributed to Ardipithecus ramidus (ARA-VP-6/500-023). Our results demonstrate that ARA-VP-6/500-023 bears similarities to the tali of chimpanzees and gorillas, who are adapted to vertical climbing and terrestrial plantigrade quadrupedalism.
    Additionally, we identify the presence of derived features in
    ARA-VP-6/500-023 consistent with previous suggestions of an enhanced
    push-off mechanism in the foot of Ar. ramidus. Our observations of the
    human and ape fossil record are inconsistent with recently proposed
    models of human origins, which envision the last common ancestor of
    humans and chimpanzees as a generalized arboreal ape. Instead, our
    results strongly imply that humans evolved from an African ape-like
    ancestor, which directly narrows the range of explanations for the
    origin of our lineage.

    Open access:
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08711-7
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  • From Primum Sapienti@invalide@invalid.invalid to sci.anthropology.paleo on Tue Oct 21 09:42:50 2025
    From Newsgroup: sci.anthropology.paleo

    Pandora wrote:
    Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence for African ape-like
    vertical climbing in the earliest hominins

    Abstract

    The origin of the human lineage was catalyzed by bipedalism, but how
    this locomotor mode evolved is debated. We investigated the evolutionary context of human bipedalism by analyzing the morphology of the 4.4 million-year-old hominin talus attributed to Ardipithecus ramidus (ARA-VP-6/500-023). Our results demonstrate that ARA-VP-6/500-023 bears similarities to the tali of chimpanzees and gorillas, who are adapted to vertical climbing and terrestrial plantigrade quadrupedalism.
    Additionally, we identify the presence of derived features in ARA-VP-6/500-023 consistent with previous suggestions of an enhanced push-off mechanism in the foot of Ar. ramidus. Our observations of the
    human and ape fossil record are inconsistent with recently proposed
    models of human origins, which envision the last common ancestor of
    humans and chimpanzees as a generalized arboreal ape. Instead, our
    results strongly imply that humans evolved from an African ape-like ancestor, which directly narrows the range of explanations for the
    origin of our lineage.

    Open access:
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08711-7

    Hmmm. "ape-like" the operative term

    "Overall, we interpret the mosaic morphology of the
    ARA-VP-6/500-023 talus to reflect a combination of
    African ape-like vertical climbing as part of a
    varied positional repertoire that included orthograde
    posture, forelimb-dominated suspensory locomotion,
    and an early form of bipedalism"

    "Therefore, the African ape-like foot of Ar. ramidus,
    including the morphology of the talus, suggests that
    the Homo-Pan LCA had a positional repertoire that
    included terrestrial plantigrade quadrupedalism and
    vertical climbing"

    "Therefore, climbing hypotheses, and hints of a
    climbing ancestry in the functional anatomy of
    hominins and apes, are not mutually exclusive with
    the hypothesis of an African ape-like ancestor of
    humans and chimpanzees"

    "The phylogenetic position of humans within the
    African ape clade implies evolution from an
    ancestor that used terrestrial plantigrade
    quadrupedalism, vertical climbing, and
    below-branch suspension. The functional
    morphology of Ar. ramidus hands and feet,
    including the ARA-VP-6/500-023 talus, is
    consistent with this hypothesis, while also
    displaying features plausibly associated with
    an early form of bipedalism."
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