Lucy on the ground with knuckles.Anthropologists generally regard an upright gait as essential for membership in the human evolutionary family. However, some of our earliest ancestors may have favored knuckle 1. The prominence of the dorsal aspect of a joint of a finger, especially of one of the joints that connect the fingers to the hand. 2. A rounded protuberance formed by the bones in a joint. 3. A kink or loop of intestine, as in a hernia. Brian G. Richmond and David S. Strait straits of pelvis the pelvic inlet(superior pelvic s.) and pelvic outlet(inferior pelvic s.) . strait (str  t)n. , both anthropologists at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., examined previously found wrist bones from several Australopithecus Australopithecus (ôstrā'lōpĭth`əkəs, –pəthē`kəs), an extinct genus of the hominid family found in Africa between about 4 and 1 million years ago. At least seven species of australopithecines are now generally recognized, including Australopithecus afarensis, A. species. A. anamensis and A. afarensis--the latter represented by the famous skeleton known as Lucy--had wrists capable of locking the hands in place during knuckle-walking, the scientists say. A. anamensis lived just prior to 4 million years ago; A. afarensis existed from 4 million to 3 million years ago. A narrow passage, such as the upper or lower opening of the pelvic canal. Later human ancestors, such as A. africanus, had flexible wrists unsuited to knuckle-walking, Richmond and Strait hold. These findings support genetic evidence for a close evolutionary linkage of humans to chimps and gorillas, they contend. |
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