Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: DeSilva JM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6031372 | biostudies-other | 2018 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
DeSilva Jeremy M JM Gill Corey M CM Prang Thomas C TC Bredella Miriam A MA Alemseged Zeresenay Z
Science advances 20180704 7
The functional and evolutionary implications of primitive retentions in early hominin feet have been under debate since the discovery of <i>Australopithecus afarensis</i>. Ontogeny can provide insight into adult phenotypes, but juvenile early hominin foot fossils are exceptionally rare. We analyze a nearly complete, 3.32-million-year-old juvenile foot of <i>A. afarensis</i> (DIK-1-1f). We show that juvenile <i>A. afarensis</i> individuals already had many of the bipedal features found in adult s ...[more]