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. 2003 Jan;202(1):165-74.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-7580.2003.00144.x.

Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing

Richard W Young  1
Affiliations

Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing

Richard W Young. J Anat. 2003 Jan.

Abstract

It has been proposed that the hominid lineage began when a group of chimpanzee-like apes began to throw rocks and swing clubs at adversaries, and that this behaviour yielded reproductive advantages for millions of years, driving natural selection for improved throwing and clubbing prowess. This assertion leads to the prediction that the human hand should be adapted for throwing and clubbing, a topic that is explored in the following report. It is shown that the two fundamental human handgrips, first identified by J. R. Napier, and named by him the 'precision grip' and 'power grip', represent a throwing grip and a clubbing grip, thereby providing an evolutionary explanation for the two unique grips, and the extensive anatomical remodelling of the hand that made them possible. These results are supported by palaeoanthropological evidence.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Chimpanzee hand, a model for the hand of the hominid ancestor (left), and the human hand.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Bones of the chimpanzee (left) and human hands.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
During its evolution, the human hand gained two unique grips, first identified by Napier. He called them the precision grip and the power grip and depicted them by the grip of a sphere (top left) and a cylinder (bottom left) (Napier, 1956, 1965, 1993). The evolution of these grips can be attributed to adaptation of the hand for gripping missiles and clubs. This is shown (above) by the grip of a softball, baseball and cricket ball, and (below) by the grip of a tennis racquet, golf club and cricket bat.
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