eLucy
Compare Lucy: Manual Proximal Phalanx

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Select a view:

  • lucy distal view of manual proximal phalanxDistal
  • lucy dorsal view of manual proximal phalanxDorsal
  • lucy lateral view of manual proximal phalanxLateral
  • lucy medial view of manual proximal phalanxMedial
  • lucy palmar view of manual proximal phalanxPalmar
  • lucy proximal view of manual proximal phalanxProximal

Distal View

Au. afarensis (Lucy)

H. sapiens (Female Human)

P. troglodytes (Male Chimpanzee)

 

Dorsal View

Au. afarensis (Lucy)

H. sapiens (Female Human)

P. troglodytes (Male Chimpanzee)

 

Lateral View

Au. afarensis (Lucy)

H. sapiens (Female Human)

P. troglodytes (Male Chimpanzee)

 

Medial View

Au. afarensis (Lucy)

H. sapiens (Female Human)

P. troglodytes (Male Chimpanzee)

 

Palmar View

Au. afarensis (Lucy)

H. sapiens (Female Human)

P. troglodytes (Male Chimpanzee)

 

Proximal View

Au. afarensis (Lucy)

H. sapiens (Female Human)

P. troglodytes (Male Chimpanzee)

 

In primates, the degree of phalangeal shaft curvature is directly related to the frequency of arboreal behavior. Curved fingers and toes aid in the ability to grasp onto a curved branch. Species that spend a great deal of time in suspensory behaviors have more curved phalangeal shafts, while species not habitually suspensory have relatively flat phalangeal shafts. When comparing human phalanges with those of chimpanzees, the shaft of the human phalanx is relatively straighter than a chimpanzee. Lucy shows an intermediate curvature between those of modern humans and chimpanzees, which suggest that Lucy was still engaged in some amount of arboreal behaviors.