Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Volume 144, Issue 2, Pages 215-225Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21390
Keywords
Pan troglodytes; microcomputed tomography; metacarpal trabecular architecture; knuckle-walking; nut-cracking
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Funding
- Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada [183660-03]
- EVAN Marie Curie Research Training Network [MRTN-CT-019564]
- Max Planck Society
- Ministry of Environment and Eaux et Forets
- Ministry of Scientific Research of Cote d'Ivoire
- Direction of the Tai National Park
- Swiss Centre of Scientific Research
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Trabecular architecture was assessed by 3D micro-computed tomography from spherical volumes of interest located within the head and base of metacarpals (MC) 1, 2, and 5 from n = 19 adult common chimpanzees. Two subspecies, West African Pan troglodytes verus from the Tai Forest, Cote d'Ivoire (n = 12) and Central African P t. troglodytes from Cameroon (n = 7), were studied. For the combined sample, the metacarpal head is distinguished by greater bone volume fraction across all metacarpals, though the MC 1 is distinctive in having thicker, more plate-like trabeculae. The architecture in the MC 2 and MC 5 can be related to strains associated with terrestrial knuckle-walking. In particular, the relatively robust MC 5 head architecture may result from functional loading incurred during braking and use of a palm-in hand posture. Examining differences between samples, we found that the Cameroon chimpanzees possess a more robust architecture across all metacarpals in the form of greater bone volume fraction, higher connectivity, and somewhat more plate-like structure. These differences are not explicable in terms of population distinctions in body size or daily travel distance, but possibly reflect a combination of more terrestrial knuckle-walking in the Cameroon sample and more diverse hand postures and precision handling required of nut-cracking in West African chimpanzees. Am J Phys Anthropol 144:215-225, 2011. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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