Clarke R J, Tobias P V
Department of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Science. 1995 Jul 28;269(5223):521-4. doi: 10.1126/science.7624772.
Four articulating hominid foot bones have been recovered from Sterkfontein Member 2, near Johannesburg, South Africa. They have human features in the hindfoot and strikingly apelike traits in the forefoot. While the foot is manifestly adapted for bipedalism, its most remarkable characteristic is that the great toe (hallux) is appreciably medially diverged (varus) and strongly mobile, as in apes. Possibly as old as 3.5 million years, the foot provides the first evidence that bipedal hominids were in southern Africa more than 3.0 million years ago. The bones probably belonged to an early member of Australopithecus africanus or another early hominid species.
在南非约翰内斯堡附近的斯泰克方丹2号成员遗址中，发现了四块相连的原始人类足部骨骼。它们的后足具有人类特征，而前足则具有明显的类猿特征。虽然这只脚显然适应了双足行走，但其最显著的特征是，大脚趾（拇趾）明显向内偏斜（内翻）且活动自如，就像猿类一样。这只脚可能有350万年的历史，它首次证明了300多万年前双足行走的原始人类就已出现在非洲南部。这些骨骼可能属于南方古猿或其他早期原始人类物种的早期成员。
