Early hominin foot morphology based on 1.5-million-year-old footprints from Ileret, Kenya.

Authors: Bennett, M.R. et al.

Journal: Science

Volume: 323

Issue: 5918

Pages: 1197-1201

eISSN: 1095-9203

DOI: 10.1126/science.1168132

Abstract:

Hominin footprints offer evidence about gait and foot shape, but their scarcity, combined with an inadequate hominin fossil record, hampers research on the evolution of the human gait. Here, we report hominin footprints in two sedimentary layers dated at 1.51 to 1.53 million years ago (Ma) at Ileret, Kenya, providing the oldest evidence of an essentially modern human-like foot anatomy, with a relatively adducted hallux, medial longitudinal arch, and medial weight transfer before push-off. The size of the Ileret footprints is consistent with stature and body mass estimates for Homo ergaster/erectus, and these prints are also morphologically distinct from the 3.75-million-year-old footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania. The Ileret prints show that by 1.5 Ma, hominins had evolved an essentially modern human foot function and style of bipedal locomotion.

Source: PubMed

Early Hominin Foot Morphology Based on 1.5-Million-Year-Old Footprints from Ileret, Kenya

Authors: Bennett, M.R. et al.

Journal: SCIENCE

Volume: 323

Issue: 5918

Pages: 1197-1201

ISSN: 0036-8075

DOI: 10.1126/science.1168132

Source: Web of Science (Lite)

Early Hominin Foot Morphology Based on 1.5-Million-Year-Old Footprints from Ileret, Kenya

Authors: Bennett, M.R. et al.

Journal: Science

Volume: 323

Pages: 1174-1201

ISSN: 0036-8075

DOI: 10.1126/science.1168132

Abstract:

Hominin footprints offer evidence about gait and foot shape, but their scarcity, combined with an inadequate hominin fossil record, hampers research on the evolution of the human gait. Here, we report hominin footprints in two sedimentary layers dated at 1.51 to 1.53 million years ago (Ma) at Ileret, Kenya, providing the oldest evidence of an essentially modern human–like foot anatomy, with a relatively adducted hallux, medial longitudinal arch, and medial weight transfer before push-off. The size of the Ileret footprints is consistent with stature and body mass estimates for Homo ergaster/erectus, and these prints are also morphologically distinct from the 3.75-million-year-old footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania. The Ileret prints show that by 1.5 Ma, hominins had evolved an essentially modern human foot function and style of bipedal locomotion.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/323/5918/1197?ijkey=pvmetFDeaFxeI&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

Source: Manual

Preferred by: Matthew Bennett

Early hominin foot morphology based on 1.5-million-year-old footprints from Ileret, Kenya.

Authors: Bennett, M.R. et al.

Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.)

Volume: 323

Issue: 5918

Pages: 1197-1201

eISSN: 1095-9203

ISSN: 0036-8075

DOI: 10.1126/science.1168132

Abstract:

Hominin footprints offer evidence about gait and foot shape, but their scarcity, combined with an inadequate hominin fossil record, hampers research on the evolution of the human gait. Here, we report hominin footprints in two sedimentary layers dated at 1.51 to 1.53 million years ago (Ma) at Ileret, Kenya, providing the oldest evidence of an essentially modern human-like foot anatomy, with a relatively adducted hallux, medial longitudinal arch, and medial weight transfer before push-off. The size of the Ileret footprints is consistent with stature and body mass estimates for Homo ergaster/erectus, and these prints are also morphologically distinct from the 3.75-million-year-old footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania. The Ileret prints show that by 1.5 Ma, hominins had evolved an essentially modern human foot function and style of bipedal locomotion.

Source: Europe PubMed Central