Dissertation Research: Functional Morphology of the Proconsul Bony Pelvis

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One of the major anatomical differences between humans and apes is in the construction of the pelvis (hipbones) which permits humans to walk with habitually upright posture, whereas apes cannot. Although these bones are well known from living humans and living apes, fossil fragments of this important part of the skeleton are infrequently found and complete fossil pelvic bones are exceedingly rare. Recently a nearly complete hipbone of the Miocene ape, Proconsul, was discovered in East Africa together with fragments of additional hipbones. The purpose of this research is to describe, analyze, and interpret the functional morphology of these bones. They will be compared with bones from a large sample of living and extinct anthropoid primates in order to interpret their locomotor and positional repertoire. Some investigators have suggested that Proconsul represents a mixture of hominoid, cercopithecoid and unique features. This analysis will help resolve this question about the exact phylogenetic position of Proconsul, a topic currently under considerable debate.