Moyá-Solá S, Köhler M, Rook L
Institut de Paleontologia M. Crusafont, c/Escola Industrial, 23, 08201 Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Jan 5;96(1):313-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.96.1.313.
Functional and allometric analyses of the hand of the late Miocene ape Oreopithecus bambolii (Tuscany, Italy) reveal a series of features that reflect an improved grasping capability including firm pad-to-pad precision gripping that apes are unable to perform. Related features such as hand length, relative thumb length, a deep and large insertion area for the tendon of the long thumb flexor, and the form of the metacarpal 2/capitate articulation are not present in extant or fossil apes. In these features, the Oreopithecus hand closely matches the pattern of early hominids, presumably as a response to similar functional demands.
对晚中新世猿类巴氏奥瑞猿(意大利托斯卡纳)手部的功能和异速生长分析揭示了一系列反映抓握能力提高的特征,包括坚实的指尖对指尖精确抓握,这是猿类无法做到的。现存或化石猿类不存在诸如手长、相对拇指长度、拇长屈肌腱深且大的附着区域以及第二掌骨/头状骨关节形式等相关特征。在这些特征上,奥瑞猿的手与早期原始人类的模式非常匹配,大概是对类似功能需求的一种响应。