7th European Federation for Primatology Meeting. 30e Colloque de la Société Francophone de Primatologie Strasbourg, France, August 21-25, 2017: Abstracts
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: In primates, several selective pressures are thought to have led to the evolution of grasping and manipulative abilities including predation, locomotor mode, social context, food properties and tool use.In such a context, it is fascinating to try to analyze how parameters such as the variability of behaviours, morphologies, environments and diets interact, to understand the mechanisms underlying the evolution of these functions and finally try to infer hand use in fossil forms.An interdisciplinary approach allows us to address several issues: (1) which parameters are involved in the origins and evolution of grasping and manipulation among primates?(2) How do behavioural and morphological parameters interact?(3) How to infer hand use in fossil forms?We demonstrated that food properties affect manipulative strategies, especially mobile and/or embedded foods.It seems that strepshirrines have simpler grasping strategies compared to catarrhines and that, among platyrrhines, capuchins have high finger individualization abilities.Among strepshirrines, fur-carrying species (species who transport their babies in their fur and not in their mouth) exhibit significantly more frequent manual grasping of food items, and the mouse lemur can pull more than ten times its own body weight, probably in relation to its arboreal adaptation.Biomechanical studies showed that arboreal species tend to use more rotation of the upper limb joints than more terrestrial ones, who use more flexion-extension movements.Finally, humans show more complex in-hand movements than great apes, partly related to the shape of the trapeziometacarpal complex.Furthermore, behavioural and paleoanthropological data suggest that other species outside Homo are or were able to make tools.To conclude, I am convinced we need to develop integrative approaches and to study groups other than primates if we want to understand better the selection pressures involved in the evolution of manual grasping and manipulation.
Source: Folia Primatologica
DOI: 10.1159/000479094
Author: Editors Folia Primatologica
Institution: Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
Language: English
Topic: Primate Behavior and Ecology
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2741619931