McFadden Dennis, Bracht Mary S
Department of Psychology and Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712-0187, USA.
Horm Behav. 2003 Feb;43(2):347-55. doi: 10.1016/s0018-506x(02)00048-x.
The lengths and weights of metacarpals and metatarsals were measured in two collections of baboon skeletons-33 animals, all born and raised in the wild, and 60 animals, nearly all born and raised in captivity. For both length and weight, ratios were constructed for all possible pairings of the five bones in each individual hand and foot. The pattern of results was not identical for the two collections, but substantial sex differences existed in both collections for many of the ratios calculated. Nearly all of the large sex differences were in the direction of the length or weight ratio being smaller for males than for females. For the length ratios showing the largest sex differences, those differences were larger for the right hand than for the left, and larger for the left foot than for the right, but this pattern was less evident for the weight ratios. Some length ratios for human fingers show sex differences of the sort seen in the metacarpals and metatarsals of these baboons, and the human differences in relative length exist early in life. The implication is that the marked sex difference in androgen exposure during prenatal development may effect the relative size of the individual bones of the extremities in male and female humans and baboons. The relative sizes of the bones of the hand and foot may provide helpful supplemental information on the relations between species, thus making the study of hand and foot bones in other primates and mammals worthwhile.
在两组狒狒骨骼样本中测量了掌骨和跖骨的长度与重量，一组有33只动物，均在野外出生并长大，另一组有60只动物，几乎全在圈养环境中出生并长大。对于长度和重量，分别针对每只手和每只脚的五根骨头的所有可能配对构建了比率。两组样本的结果模式并不相同，但在计算出的许多比率中，两组样本都存在显著的性别差异。几乎所有较大的性别差异都表现为男性的长度或重量比率小于女性。对于显示出最大性别差异的长度比率，右手的差异大于左手，左脚的差异大于右脚，但这种模式在重量比率中不太明显。人类手指的一些长度比率也表现出与这些狒狒掌骨和跖骨中所见类似的性别差异，而且人类相对长度的差异在生命早期就已存在。这意味着产前发育期间雄激素暴露的显著性别差异可能影响人类和狒狒两性四肢各骨骼的相对大小。手和脚骨骼的相对大小可能为物种间关系提供有用的补充信息，因此对其他灵长类动物和哺乳动物的手和脚骨骼进行研究是有价值的。
