Oreopithecus was a bipedal ape after all: evidence from the iliac cancellous architecture.
Textural properties and functional morphology of the hip bone cancellous network of Oreopithecus bambolii, a 9- to 7-million-year-old Late Miocene hominoid from Italy, provide insights into the postural and locomotor behavior of this fossil ape. Digital image processing of calibrated hip bone radiographs reveals the occurrence of trabecular features, which, in humans and fossil hominids, are related to vertical support of the body weight, i.e., to bipedality.
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra and Museo di Storia Naturale (Sezione Geologia e Paleontologia), Università di Firenze, via G. La Pira, 4-50121 Firenze, Italy. Lrook@geo.unifi.it
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Rook
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Bondioli
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Köhler
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Moyà-Solà
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Macchiarelli
D000818:Animals; D005580:Fossils; D006615:Hip / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007558:Italy; D008124:Locomotion; D010163:Paleontology; D011187:Posture; D011859:Radiography