Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0383, USA.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2010 Oct;143(2):198-207. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.21306.
This study proposes a new way to use metatarsals to identify locomotor behavior of fossil hominins. Metatarsal head articular dimensions and diaphyseal strength in a sample of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and humans (n = 76) are used to explore the relationships of these parameters with different locomotor modes. Results show that ratios between metatarsal head articular proportions and diaphyseal strength of the hallucal and fifth metatarsal discriminate among extant great apes and humans based on their different locomotor modes. In particular, the hallucal and fifth metatarsal characteristics of humans are functionally related to the different ranges of motion and load patterns during stance phase in the forefoot of humans in bipedal locomotion. This method may be applicable to isolated fossil hominin metatarsals to provide new information relevant to debates regarding the evolution of human bipedal locomotion. The second to fourth metatarsals are not useful in distinguishing among hominoids. Further studies should concentrate on measuring other important qualitative and quantitative differences in the shape of the metatarsal head of hominoids that are not reflected in simple geometric reconstructions of the articulation, and gathering more forefoot kinematic data on great apes to better understand differences in range of motion and loading patterns of the metatarsals.
本研究提出了一种利用跖骨来识别化石人科动物运动行为的新方法。本研究利用黑猩猩、大猩猩、猩猩和人类（n=76）的跖骨头关节尺寸和骨干强度的样本，探索了这些参数与不同运动模式之间的关系。结果表明，跖骨头关节比例与大脚趾和第五跖骨骨干强度的比值，可以根据不同的运动模式来区分现生的大猿和人类。特别是人类的大脚趾和第五跖骨特征，与人类在双足行走时前足支撑阶段的不同运动范围和负荷模式有关。这种方法可能适用于孤立的人科化石跖骨，为有关人类双足行走进化的争论提供新的相关信息。第二至第四跖骨在区分人科动物方面没有用处。进一步的研究应该集中在测量人科动物跖骨头形状的其他重要定性和定量差异上，这些差异不能反映在关节的简单几何重建中，并收集更多的大猿前足运动学数据，以更好地了解跖骨运动范围和负荷模式的差异。
