![]() They point to the brain’s rapidĮnlargement during the past two million years, the expansion of the Using tools and climbing, but not for inventing tools from stone.Īnthropologists probe deeper into the origins of humans, they Like Kanzi’s hands, these were useful both for afarensis kept strong flexor tendons and curved fingerīones, likely because the species still used its hands to climb andĬling to branches. The broadįingertips and manipulatory abilities of later humans came later. These were not hands for making stone tools, not yet. Within the fleshy mound at the base of the thumb was likewise weak. Muscle, though they were generally weakly developed. These early ancestors were equipped with the flexor pollicis longus Very different from chimpanzees and other apes. The species of the famous “ Lucy” skeleton,Īustralopithecus afarensis, had digits proportioned much like ours, Short fingers, emerged early in the human lineage, over 3 million Proportions of our hand, including our long thumb and relatively The hard part was mechanical: controlling theĪrms and hands without a powerful fingertip hold. To understand the utility of the flake, how and why to cut things The problem was not his brain: He seemed perfectly Only after long training could Kanzi, the famous bonobo, chip flakes comparable to the earliest artifacts made my Their anatomy gives them a forcefulĬurling grip that no human can match, but little control at the Wrapped with a strong sheath enclosing the cable-like tendon that Living apes have long and powerful fingers, each finger phalanx Termite probes, using hands that are built like meat hooks. Today we can watch as a chimpanzee makes delicate Even in Charlesĭarwin’s time, the manipulatory abilities of monkeys and apes were Primatologists have known for more than 50 years thatĪpes make and use tools in their natural habitats. The abrupt end of its arm-driven ballistic path. Spread the pressure over a broader surface, making the grip fastĪgainst the percussive rebound as the stone wallops into another at Those wide fingertips, wider than any ape or monkey’s, Has a pinky as mobile as ours, or short fingers with broadįingertips. Into the act, flexing inward to cup the palm around a rock. ![]() This muscle pulls powerfully on the thumb bones,Ĭlamping them forcefully onto the stone. No ape supplies each thumb with its own flexor pollicis longus,ĭeep in the forearm. Ape thumbs are shortĪfterthoughts, jutting awkwardly below the long, strong bones of the Thumb with its own wide, flat fingertip bone. As they have always done, thumbs and fingers connect us Hands, crafting fine objects or simple tools, digging and harvesting. We talk, use metaphors, empathize, follow fashions, laugh, It is easy to think of other traits as making There they sit, nearly flaccid, punctuating the end ofĮach word, awaiting the call to crack stone or to use sharp flakes ![]()
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