title: Evidence of hominid-like precision grip capability in the hand of the Miocene ape Oreopithecus.
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.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Paleontologia M. Crusafont, c/Escola Industrial, 23, 08201 Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moyá-Solá
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köhler
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rook
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D018070:Biological Specimen Banks; D001133:Bones of Upper Extremity / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005385:Fingers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005580:Fossils; D006225:Hand / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D018737:Hand Strength; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity