Article

The Maka femur and its bearing on the antiquity of human walking: Applying contemporary concepts of morphogenesis to the human fossil record

  1. C. Owen Lovejoy1,*,
  2. Richard S. Meindl1,
  3. James C. Ohman2,
  4. Kingsbury G. Heiple3,
  5. Tim D. White4

Article first published online: 16 SEP 2002

DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10111

Issue

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Volume 119, Issue 2, pages 97–133, October 2002

Additional Information

How to Cite

Lovejoy, C. O., Meindl, R. S., Ohman, J. C., Heiple, K. G. and White, T. D. (2002), The Maka femur and its bearing on the antiquity of human walking: Applying contemporary concepts of morphogenesis to the human fossil record. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 119: 97–133. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.10111

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242

  2. 2

    School of Biological and Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK

  3. 3

    Division of Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106

  4. 4

    Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720

*Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 16 SEP 2002
  2. Article first published online: 16 SEP 2002
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 15 FEB 2002
  4. Manuscript Received: 11 AUG 1995

Funded by

  • National Science Foundation. Grant Numbers: BCS-9910344, BCS-9910211, SBR-9729060

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Keywords:

  • Australopithecus;
  • hip joint;
  • hominid;
  • human evolution

Abstract

MAK-VP-1/1, a proximal femur recovered from the Maka Sands (ca. 3.4 mya) of the Middle Awash, Ethiopia, and attributed to Australopithecus afarensis, is described in detail. It represents the oldest skeletal evidence of locomotion in this species, and is analyzed from a morphogenetic perspective. X-ray, CT, and metric data are evaluated, using a variety of methods including discriminant function. The specimen indicates that the hip joint of A. afarensis was remarkably like that of modern humans, and that the dramatic muscle allocation shifts which distinguish living humans and African apes were already present in a highly derived form in this species. Its anatomy provides no indication of any form of locomotion save habitual terrestrial bipedality, which very probably differed only trivially from that of modern humans. Am J Phys Anthropol 119:97–133, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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