Evidence of hominid-like precision grip capability in the hand of the Miocene ape Oreopithecus

1999/01/05 by Salvador Moyà‐Solà, Meike Köhler, Lorenzo Rook · 8 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Action Observation and Synchronization #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Thumb #Hominidae #Extant taxon #Anatomy #Biology #Paleontology #Articulation (sociology) #Evolutionary biology #Australopithecus #Metacarpal bones #Paleoanthropology #Geology #Computer science #Biological evolution

paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.96.1.313

openalex publication_date 1999/01/05 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/18

Abstract

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.

Citations

• Hand of Paranthropus robustus from Member 1, Swartkrans: Fossil Evidence for Tool Behavior
• THE PREHENSILE MOVEMENTS OF THE HUMAN HAND

Cited by

• Evolution and homologies of primate and modern human hand and forearm muscles, with notes on thumb movements and tool use
• A new specimen and dental microwear in Oreopithecus bambolii
• Reevaluation of the lumbosacral region of Oreopithecus bambolii
• The bony labyrinth of Oreopithecus bambolii
• Oreopithecus was a bipedal ape after all: Evidence from the iliac cancellous architecture
• Oreopithecus [wikipedia]
• Second metacarpal bone [wikipedia]
• Thumb [wikipedia]