Tree climbing and human evolution

Venkataraman, Vivek V.; Kraft, Thomas S.; Dominy, Nathaniel J.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1208717110

Cited by 90 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Data on the distal tibia from the Geneva sample of Ituri hunter-gatherers were incorporated into another publication (Venkataraman et al 2013) and are also included here. The present study also includes data on agriculturalist humans collected from the ninth-through twelfth-century Paleoindian Libben collection housed at Kent State University (Lovejoy et al 1977), the Hamann-Todd collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH), and an unprovenanced sample of human tibiae from the Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan.…”

Section: Size-standardized Anterior Width Of the Distal Tibiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the scarce resources readily available to humans in tropical rainforests, honey, ripe fruit, and game are highly prized (Endicott and Endicott 2008;Ichikawa 1981;Lye 2004) but also the most difficult to acquire because of their location in the rainforest canopy. Consequently, acquiring these resources can require frequent vertical-climbing behavior (Venkataraman et al 2013). For example, Bailey and Headland (1991) reported that Efe men spend approximately 8% of time away from camp either climbing or perched in trees.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…During this style of climbing (Venkataraman et al 2013: Figure 1), the climber places his or her foot against the tree and "walks" upward, advancing the hands and feet alternately (Endicott and Endicott 2008;Evans 1937). This style of climbing, termed changwod by the Jahai in Malaysia (Evans 1937), is accompanied by substantial ankle dorsiflexion (mean ± SD, 40.7° ± 5.14°; Venkataraman et al 2013) that is statistically indistinguishable, but only marginally so (p = 0.06; Venkataraman et al 2013), from the mean observed value for maximal dorsiflexion by chimpanzees (45.5 ± 7.1°; DeSilva 2009). Some humans, including hunter-gatherers, also climb with highly inverted feet and hyperflexed knees ( Figure 1) as the plantar surface of the foot is placed against the tree surface with the hips in hyperabduction (Demps et al 2012), termed the "frog" position (Peters 2001) or chinbodn by the Jahai in Malaysia (Evans 1937).…”

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

“…This investigation is premised on observational and quantitative studies of hunter-gatherers who climb trees in a manner that is kinematically similar to chimpanzees (Demps et al 2012;Endicott and Endicott 2008;Evans 1937;Isler 2005;Venkataraman et al 2013). During this style of climbing (Venkataraman et al 2013: Figure 1), the climber places his or her foot against the tree and "walks" upward, advancing the hands and feet alternately (Endicott and Endicott 2008;Evans 1937). This style of climbing, termed changwod by the Jahai in Malaysia (Evans 1937), is accompanied by substantial ankle dorsiflexion (mean ± SD, 40.7° ± 5.14°; Venkataraman et al 2013) that is statistically indistinguishable, but only marginally so (p = 0.06; Venkataraman et al 2013), from the mean observed value for maximal dorsiflexion by chimpanzees (45.5 ± 7.1°; DeSilva 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Phenotypic Plasticity of Climbing-Related Traits in the Ankle Joint of Great Apes and Rainforest Hunter-Gatherers

et al. 2013

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Phenotypic Plasticity of Climbing-Related Traits in the Ankle Joint of Great Apes and Rainforest Hunter-Gatherers AbstractThe "negrito" and African "pygmy" phenotypes are predominately exhibited by hunter-gatherers living in rainforest habitats. Foraging within such habitats is associated with a unique set of locomotor behaviors, most notably habitual vertical climbing during the pursuit of honey, fruit, and game. When performed frequently, this behavior is expected to correlate with developmentally plastic skeletal morphologies that respond to mechanical loading. Using six measurements in the distal tibia and talus that discriminate nonhuman primates by vertical climbing frequency, we tested the prediction that intraspecific variation in this behavior is reflected in the morphology of the ankle joint of habitually climbing human populations. First, to explore the plasticity of climbing-linked morphologies, we made comparisons between chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans from wild and captive settings. The analysis revealed significant differences in two climbing-linked traits (anterior expansion of the articular surface of the distal tibia and increased degree of talar wedging), indicating that these traits are sensitive to climbing behavior. However, our analyses did not reveal any signatures of climbing behavior in the ankles of habitually climbing hunter-gatherers. These results suggest that the detection of finegrained differences in human locomotor behaviors at the ankle joint, particularly those associated with arboreality, may be obscured by the functional demands of terrestrial bipedalism. Accordingly, it may be difficult to use population-level characteristics of ankle morphology to make inferences about the climbing behavior of hominins in the fossil record, even when facultative arborealism is associated with key fitness benefits. Abstract The "negrito" and African "pygmy" phenotypes are predominately exhibited by hunter-gatherers living in rainforest habitats. Foraging within such habitats is associated with a unique set of locomotor behaviors, most notably habitual vertical climbing during the pursuit of honey, fruit, and game. When performed frequently, this behavior is expected to correlate with developmentally plastic skeletal morphologies that respond to mechanical loading. Using six measurements in the distal tibia and talus that discriminate nonhuman primates by vertical climbing frequency, we tested the prediction that intraspecific variation in this behavior is reflected in the morphology of the ankle joint of habitually climbing human populations. First, to explore the plasticity of climbing-linked morphologies, we made comparisons between chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans from wild and captive settings. The analysis revealed significant differences in two climbing-linked traits (anterior expansion of the articular surface of the distal tibia and increased degree of talar wedging), indicating that these traits are sensitive to climbing behavior. However, our analyses did not reveal an...

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Section: Size-standardized Anterior Width Of the Distal Tibiamentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phenotypic Plasticity of Climbing-Related Traits in the Ankle Joint of Great Apes and Rainforest Hunter-Gatherers

et al. 2013

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Primate Locomotion

and¹,

Young²

2023

A Companion to Biological Anthropology

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Activity and functions of the human gluteal muscles in walking, running, sprinting, and climbing

Bartlett

Sumner

Ellis

et al. 2013

American J Phys Anthropol

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It has been suggested that the uniquely large gluteus maximus (GMAX) muscles were an important adaptation during hominin evolution based on numerous anatomical differences between humans and extant apes. GMAX electromyographic (EMG) signals have been quantified for numerous individual movements, but not across the range of locomotor gaits and speeds for the same subjects. Thus, comparing relative EMG amplitudes between these activities has not been possible. We assessed the EMG activity of the gluteal muscles during walking, running, sprinting, and climbing. To gain further insight into the function of the gluteal muscles during locomotion, we measured muscle activity during walking and running with external devices that increased or decreased the need to control either forward or backward trunk pitch. We hypothesized that 1) GMAX EMG activity would be greatest during sprinting and climbing and 2) GMAX EMG activity would be modulated in response to altered forward trunk pitch demands during running. We found that GMAX activity in running was greater than walking and similar to climbing. However, the activity during sprinting was much greater than during running. Further, only the inferior portion of the GMAX had a significant change with altered trunk pitch demands, suggesting that the hip extensors have a limited contribution to the control of trunk pitch movements during running. Overall, our data suggest that the large size of the GMAX reflects its multifaceted role during rapid and powerful movements rather than as a specific adaptation for a single submaximal task such as endurance running.

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Tree climbing and human evolution

Cited by 90 publications

References 55 publications

Phenotypic Plasticity of Climbing-Related Traits in the Ankle Joint of Great Apes and Rainforest Hunter-Gatherers

Phenotypic Plasticity of Climbing-Related Traits in the Ankle Joint of Great Apes and Rainforest Hunter-Gatherers

Primate Locomotion

Activity and functions of the human gluteal muscles in walking, running, sprinting, and climbing

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