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Science 2 October 2009:
Vol. 326. no. 5949, pp. 72, 72e1-72e8
DOI: 10.1126/science.1175832
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Research Articles

Combining Prehension and Propulsion: The Foot of Ardipithecus ramidus

C. Owen Lovejoy,1 Bruce Latimer,2 Gen Suwa,3 Berhane Asfaw,4 Tim D. White5,*

Several elements of the Ardipithecus ramidus foot are preserved, primarily in the ARA-VP-6/500 partial skeleton. The foot has a widely abducent hallux, which was not propulsive during terrestrial bipedality. However, it lacks the highly derived tarsometatarsal laxity and inversion in extant African apes that provide maximum conformity to substrates during vertical climbing. Instead, it exhibits primitive characters that maintain plantar rigidity from foot-flat through toe-off, reminiscent of some Miocene apes and Old World monkeys. Moreover, the action of the fibularis longus muscle was more like its homolog in Old World monkeys than in African apes. Phalangeal lengths were most similar to those of Gorilla. The Ardipithecus gait pattern would thus have been unique among known primates. The last common ancestor of hominids and chimpanzees was therefore a careful climber that retained adaptations to above-branch plantigrady.

1 Department of Anthropology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44240, USA.
2 Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
3 University Museum, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
4 Rift Valley Research Service, P.O. Box 5717, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
5 Human Evolution Research Center and Department of Integrative Biology, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: timwhite{at}berkeley.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids.
T. D. White, B. Asfaw, Y. Beyene, Y. Haile-Selassie, C. O. Lovejoy, G. Suwa, and G. WoldeGabriel (2009)
Science 326, 64-64, 75-86
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The Ardipithecus ramidus Skull and Its Implications for Hominid Origins.
G. Suwa, B. Asfaw, R. T. Kono, D. Kubo, C. O. Lovejoy, and T. D. White (2009)
Science 326, 68-68, 68e1-68e7
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Careful Climbing in the Miocene: The Forelimbs of Ardipithecus ramidus and Humans Are Primitive.
C. O. Lovejoy, S. W. Simpson, T. D. White, B. Asfaw, and G. Suwa (2009)
Science 326, 70-70, 70e1-70e8
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The Pelvis and Femur of Ardipithecus ramidus: The Emergence of Upright Walking.
C. O. Lovejoy, G. Suwa, L. Spurlock, B. Asfaw, and T. D. White (2009)
Science 326, 71-71, 71e1-71e6
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The Great Divides: Ardipithecus ramidus Reveals the Postcrania of Our Last Common Ancestors with African Apes.
C. O. Lovejoy, G. Suwa, S. W. Simpson, J. H. Matternes, and T. D. White (2009)
Science 326, 73-73, 100-106
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reexamining Human Origins in Light of Ardipithecus ramidus.
C. O. Lovejoy (2009)
Science 326, 74-74, 74e1-74e8
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