knuckle walking
Alex Duncan (aduncan@mail.utexas.edu)
12 Oct 1995 02:23:24 GMT
In article <Pine.OSF.3.91.951011155751.16402C-100000@moe.cc.utexas.edu>
David Froehlich, eohippus@moe.cc.utexas.edu writes:
>Phylogenetically, only 2-1 because Pan is a clade. Alex may correct me
>but I seem to remember somebody or other argueing that the two types of
>nuckle walking were different and implied a different phylogenetic origin????
Actually, my impression is that the arguments for knuckle-walking anatomy
being a synapomorphy are pretty strong. This is, of course, somewhat
inconvenient for those who think Pan & Homo form a clade. The fact is,
however, that the molecular data are inconclusive on this point. There
are only one or two putative morphological synapomorphies that link Pan &
Homo (H. Erwin, jump in here and correct me?). There are a large number
of potential synapomorphies linking Pan & Gorilla, mostly having to do w/
dental enamel & the knuckle walking complex.
Alex Duncan
Dept. of Anthropology
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712-1086
512-471-4206
aduncan@mail.utexas.edu
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