title: The foot of Homo naledi.
abstract: Modern humans are characterized by a highly specialized foot that reflects our obligate bipedalism. Our understanding of hominin foot evolution is, although, hindered by a paucity of well-associated remains. Here we describe the foot of Homo naledi from Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, using 107 pedal elements, including one nearly-complete adult foot. The H. naledi foot is predominantly modern human-like in morphology and inferred function, with an adducted hallux, an elongated tarsus, and derived ankle and calcaneocuboid joints. In combination, these features indicate a foot well adapted for striding bipedalism. However, the H. naledi foot differs from modern humans in having more curved proximal pedal phalanges, and features suggestive of a reduced medial longitudinal arch. Within the context of primitive features found elsewhere in the skeleton, these findings suggest a unique locomotor repertoire for H. naledi, thus providing further evidence of locomotor diversity within both the hominin clade and the genus Homo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Lehman College CUNY, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W, Bronx, New York 10468, USA.|Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, CPW @ W. 79th Street, New York, New York 10024, USA.|Department of Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center, 365 5th Avenue, New York, New York 10016, USA.|Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.
authors.forename: W E H
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Harcourt-Smith
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.|Department of Anatomy, DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee 37724, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Throckmorton
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.|Department of Biology, Southern Utah University, 351W Center Street, Cedar City, Utah 84720, USA.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Congdon
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zipfel
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.|Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, MN 224 UK Medical Center, Lexington, Kemtucky 40536, USA.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Deane
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.|Department of Anthropology, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada.
authors.forename: M S M
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Drapeau
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.|Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 104 Biological Sciences Building, Box 90383, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Churchill
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.|Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03775, USA.|Department of Anthropology, Boston University, 232 Bay State Road, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: DeSilva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005528:Foot / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005529:Foot Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005580:Fossils; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D019974:Pan paniscus / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D011148:Pongo pygmaeus / Q000033:anatomy & histology