Our ancient ancestor ‘Little Foot’ was a creature of the trees! New analysis of the hominin’s shoulder shows that she hung on branches more than 3 MILLION years ago
- Little Foot is a skeleton of our ancient ancestor who lived 3.67 million years ago
- A new analysis of the shoulder composition of the creature shows that it is adapted for trees
- Our ancestors hung from trees more than 3 million years ago
- The findings also mean that the structural similarities between humans and African apes in the shoulder are much more recent than previously believed.
A new analysis of the upper body of the famous fossil ‘Little Foot’, an almost complete skeleton of a hominin that lived 3.67 million years ago, reveals that she was a creature adapted to live in trees .
Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) examined Little Foot’s shoulder composition and showed that it supports arms suitable for hanging on branches and moving up and down – similar to that of monkeys.
The latest analysis “provides the best evidence yet of how human ancestors used their arms more than 3 million years ago,” said Kristian J. Carlson, lead author of the study.
The findings also suggest that the structural similarities between humans and African apes in the shoulder are much more recent and that they have lasted much longer than previously believed.
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A new analysis of the upper body of the famous fossil ‘Little Foot’, an almost complete skeleton of a hominin that lived 3.67 million years ago, reveals that she was a creature adapted to live in trees .
Little Foot was discovered in South Africa in 1994 and allowed scientists to travel back in time to learn more about human evolution.
“Little Foot is the Rosetta Stone for early human ancestors,” Carlson said.
“If we compare the shoulder composition with living humans and monkeys, it seems that Little Foot’s shoulder was probably a good model of the shoulder of the common ancestor of humans and other African apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas.”
The monster is also very rare because it is an almost complete skeleton of an Australopithecus individual that is much older than most other human ancestors.
Researchers have used high-resolution computed tomography (CT) scans to scan the fossil and transfer it into a digital image so that it can be deconstructive, allowing researchers to see every little bit of the shoulder component.
Experts speculate that the creature was an ancient female that stood about four feet long, with legs similar to modern humans that allowed bipedal movement.
For the latest analysis, the team compared the shoulder composition of the animal with monkeys, hominins, and humans.
Little Foot’s shoulder composition shows that it supports arms that are suitable for hanging on branches and moving up and down – similar to those of monkeys
They used high-resolution computed tomography (CT) to scan the fossil and transfer it to a digital image so that it can be deconstructive so that researchers can see every little bit of the shoulder component.
And so the team came to the conclusion that Little Foot spent a lot of her time swinging effortlessly between trees.
The chest belt, the set of legs that attach to the arms on either side, shows that she had the ability to hang on branches.
The shoulder blade, or shoulder blade, shows a large high ridge to attach heavy muscles similar to gorillas and chimpanzees.
The shoulder joint, where the humerus connects, sits obliquely and is helpful in stabilizing the body and reducing the tensile load on shoulder ligaments when a monkey is hanging under branches.
The shoulder also has a solid, apical reinforcing structure, the ventral beam. And the clavicle has a characteristic S-shaped curve that is common in monkeys.
“We see indisputable evidence in Little Foot that the arm of our ancestors was still used 3.67 million years ago to carry significant weight during tree-like movements in trees to climb or hang under branches,” Carlson said.
“Based on comparisons with living humans and apes, we suggest that the shoulder morphology and function of Little Foot is a good model for that of the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees from 7 to 8 million years ago.”
What’s Little Foot?
In 2015, researchers analyzed 11 rock samples from the nearly complete Little Foot fossil skeleton from the Sterkfontein Caves to determine her age.
They found that the skeleton was about 3.6 million years old.
Little Foot, a member of the species Australopithecus prometheus, lived about the same time as Australopithecus afarensis, the species whose most famous fossil, known as Lucy, came from Ethiopia.
The skeleton dates from 3.6 million years. Its discovery is expected to help researchers better understand the appearance and movement of the human ancestor
The species was much larger and longer than that of Lucy, with gorilla-like features but completely erect and very strong with powerful hands to climb.
Like Lucy, Little Foot was feminine.
Her hands were proportional to ours, with a long thumb and relatively short fingers and palm, unlike the elongated hands of modern apes.
Her legs were slightly longer than her arms, unlike modern monkeys.