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Knuckle-Walking Signatures in Hominoid Scapulae

Kreierhoff, Jennifer Lynn

Abstract Details

2014, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Anthropology.
KREIERHOFF, JENNIFER LYNN, M.A. MAY 2014 ANTHROPOLOGY KNUCKLE-WALKING SIGNATURES IN HOMINOID SCAPULAE (62 pp.) Directors of Thesis: C. Owen Lovejoy and Richard Meindl This study examines primate knuckle-walking locomotor behaviors and hominoid scapular form by means thirteen direct and photographic measurements from 165 scapulae from subadult and adult specimens of H. sapiens, G. gorilla, and P. troglodytes, and adult specimens of Hylobates. These species exhibit varying locomotor patterns: knuckle-walking, brachiation, and bipedalism. On the basis of multivariate analysis and basic experimental designs I concluded that knuckle-walking had no bearing on the scapular structures observed in this study, and that suspensory behaviors were the driving force for hominoid scapular morphology. Scapular angles proved useful in this study, and based on these findings hominoid suspensory behaviors, in whatever capacity, appeared to be the most influential function on scapular form. The four hominoids could be placed in two separate groups based on scapular shape: G. gorilla and H. sapiens in one, and P. troglodytes and Hylobates in the other. The two groups appeared to have, or have had, similar suspensory behaviors in their lineage. The actual behaviors that cause of the variation remains unknown, and would need to be further explored in future studies.
C. Owen Lovejoy, PhD (Committee Co-Chair)
Richard Meindl, PhD (Committee Co-Chair)
Maryanne Raghanti, PhD (Committee Member)
61 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kreierhoff, J. L. (2014). Knuckle-Walking Signatures in Hominoid Scapulae [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1395266783

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kreierhoff, Jennifer. Knuckle-Walking Signatures in Hominoid Scapulae. 2014. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1395266783.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kreierhoff, Jennifer. "Knuckle-Walking Signatures in Hominoid Scapulae." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1395266783

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)