Arched footprints preserve the motions of fossil hominin feet
Arched footprints preserve the motions of fossil hominin feet
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DOI：
10.1038/s41559-022-01929-2
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发表时间：
2023-01-05
影响因子：
16.8
通讯作者：
Falkingham, Peter L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hatala, Kevin G.;Gatesy, Stephen M.;Falkingham, Peter L.
人类足部的纵向足弓被视为双足行走和跑步的关键适应。来自坦桑尼亚莱托利和肯尼亚伊莱雷特的化石足迹被认为分别为上新世和更新世的人类纵向拱形脚提供了直接证据。利用双平面X射线、三维动画和离散元粒子模拟研究了径迹形成的动力学过程。在这里，我们证明，纵向拱形足迹是足部解剖的错误指标，相反，它们是通过一个特定的模式的脚运动学，是人类行走的特点。对莱托利古人类足迹化石的分析只显示了这种行走方式的部分证据，它们具有类似的脚跟着地方式，但推进方式不同。已知最早的证据表明，完全现代的两足动物运动学与人类相似，来自于更新世早期的伊列特足迹，据推测，这些足迹是由人属成员制作的。这一结果标志着在Laetoli和Ileret记录的足部运动学的重要差异，并强调了人类分支内运动多样性的新图景。
The longitudinal arch of the human foot is viewed as a pivotal adaptation for bipedal walking and running. Fossil footprints from Laetoli, Tanzania, and Ileret, Kenya, are believed to provide direct evidence of longitudinally arched feet in hominins from the Pliocene and Pleistocene, respectively. We studied the dynamics of track formation using biplanar X-ray, three-dimensional animation and discrete element particle simulation. Here, we demonstrate that longitudinally arched footprints are false indicators of foot anatomy; instead they are generated through a specific pattern of foot kinematics that is characteristic of human walking. Analyses of fossil hominin tracks from Laetoli show only partial evidence of this walking style, with a similar heel strike but a different pattern of propulsion. The earliest known evidence for fully modern human-like bipedal kinematics comes from the early Pleistocene Ileret tracks, which were presumably made by members of the genus Homo. This result signals important differences in the foot kinematics recorded at Laetoli and Ileret and underscores an emerging picture of locomotor diversity within the hominin clade.