Work

Reply to Almécija: A new direction for reconstructing our last common ancestor with chimpanzees

Year: 2016

Type: letter

Abstract: We welcome Almecija’s critique (1), but his claims of “bias” in our conclusions are unfounded. All available evidence continues to support an African ape-like shoulder and pattern of forelimb use in our last common ancestor (LCA) with chimpanzees and bonobos ( Pan ). First, controlling for within-group size variation is uncontroversial (2), and neither biases our results nor obscures their biological meaning. Gorilla and Pan shape differences may still be size-related. Specifically, Gorilla ’s expansive supraspinous fossa is plausibly associated with increased body mass and functional demands to stabilize the joint during knuckle-walking (3). Second, although we note that a “ Pan -like” LCA may be … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: nathan.m.young{at}gmail.com. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1525673113

Authors: Nathan M. Young, Terence D. Capellini, Neil T. Roach, Zeresenay Alemseged

Institutions: University of California, San Francisco, Broad Institute, Harvard University, California Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Subfield: Anthropology

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Science Foundation

Award: The developmental genetic basis for evolutionary variation in the hominin shoulder