Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing
- PMID: 12587931
- PMCID: PMC1571064
- DOI: 10.1046/j.1469-7580.2003.00144.x
Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing
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.
Figures



Similar articles
-
Evolution of the human hand: approaches to acquiring, analysing and interpreting the anatomical evidence.J Anat. 2000 Jul;197 ( Pt 1)(Pt 1):121-40. doi: 10.1046/j.1469-7580.2000.19710121.x. J Anat. 2000. PMID: 10999274 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Precision grips, hand morphology, and tools.Am J Phys Anthropol. 1997 Jan;102(1):91-110. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199701)102:1<91::AID-AJPA8>3.0.CO;2-G. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1997. PMID: 9034041 Review.
-
Evolution of the power ("squeeze") grip and its morphological correlates in hominids.Am J Phys Anthropol. 1992 Nov;89(3):283-98. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330890303. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1992. PMID: 1485637
-
Tool making, hand morphology and fossil hominins.Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2013 Oct 7;368(1630):20120414. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0414. Print 2013 Nov 19. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2013. PMID: 24101624 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The dart-throwing motion of the wrist: is it unique to humans?J Hand Surg Am. 2006 Nov;31(9):1429-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2006.08.010. J Hand Surg Am. 2006. PMID: 17095370 Free PMC article.
Cited by
-
Optical Myography-Based Sensing Methodology of Application of Random Loads to Muscles during Hand-Gripping Training.Sensors (Basel). 2024 Feb 8;24(4):1108. doi: 10.3390/s24041108. Sensors (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38400266 Free PMC article.
-
Circuits for grasping: spinal dI3 interneurons mediate cutaneous control of motor behavior.Neuron. 2013 Apr 10;78(1):191-204. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.02.007. Neuron. 2013. PMID: 23583114 Free PMC article.
-
Manual Loading Distribution During Carrying Behaviors: Implications for the Evolution of the Hominin Hand.PLoS One. 2016 Oct 3;11(10):e0163801. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163801. eCollection 2016. PLoS One. 2016. PMID: 27695044 Free PMC article.
-
Understanding shoulder pseudoparalysis: Part I: Definition to diagnosis.EFORT Open Rev. 2022 Mar 17;7(3):214-226. doi: 10.1530/EOR-21-0069. EFORT Open Rev. 2022. PMID: 35298415 Free PMC article. Review.
-
New indices to characterize drawing behavior in humans (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 16;11(1):3860. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83043-0. Sci Rep. 2021. PMID: 33594111 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Bush ME, Lovejoy CO, Johanson DC, Coppens Y. Hominid carpal, metacarpal and phalangeal bones recovered from the Hadar formation: 1974–77 collections. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 1982;57:651–677.
-
- Dainton M. Did our ancestors knuckle-walk? Nature. 2001;410:324–325. - PubMed
-
- Dart R. Adventures with the Missing Link. New York: Harper & Brothers; 1959.
-
- Darwin C. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 1871.
-
- Haile-Selassie Y. Late Miocene hominids from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature. 2001;412:178–181. - PubMed
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources