Title |
The foot of Homo naledi
|
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Published in |
Nature Communications, October 2015
|
DOI | 10.1038/ncomms9432 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
W. E. H. Harcourt-Smith, Z. Throckmorton, K. A. Congdon, B. Zipfel, A. S. Deane, M. S. M. Drapeau, S. E. Churchill, L. R. Berger, J. M. DeSilva |
Abstract |
Modern humans are characterized by a highly specialized foot that reflects our obligate bipedalism. Our understanding of hominin foot evolution is, although, hindered by a paucity of well-associated remains. Here we describe the foot of Homo naledi from Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, using 107 pedal elements, including one nearly-complete adult foot. The H. naledi foot is predominantly modern human-like in morphology and inferred function, with an adducted hallux, an elongated tarsus, and derived ankle and calcaneocuboid joints. In combination, these features indicate a foot well adapted for striding bipedalism. However, the H. naledi foot differs from modern humans in having more curved proximal pedal phalanges, and features suggestive of a reduced medial longitudinal arch. Within the context of primitive features found elsewhere in the skeleton, these findings suggest a unique locomotor repertoire for H. naledi, thus providing further evidence of locomotor diversity within both the hominin clade and the genus Homo. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United States | 36 | 22% |
United Kingdom | 16 | 10% |
Canada | 7 | 4% |
Spain | 7 | 4% |
South Africa | 5 | 3% |
Germany | 4 | 2% |
France | 3 | 2% |
Netherlands | 2 | 1% |
Ireland | 2 | 1% |
Other | 15 | 9% |
Unknown | 66 | 40% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 127 | 78% |
Scientists | 28 | 17% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 6 | 4% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 1% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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Canada | 3 | 2% |
United States | 3 | 2% |
Ireland | 1 | <1% |
India | 1 | <1% |
Italy | 1 | <1% |
Japan | 1 | <1% |
South Africa | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 177 | 94% |
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Student > Ph. D. Student | 31 | 16% |
Student > Master | 28 | 15% |
Researcher | 17 | 9% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 12 | 6% |
Other | 39 | 21% |
Unknown | 25 | 13% |
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Social Sciences | 27 | 14% |
Arts and Humanities | 15 | 8% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 12 | 6% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 11 | 6% |
Other | 37 | 20% |
Unknown | 38 | 20% |