Cheiridial genetics and tool use among later hominids - Webb - 2009

There is still uncertainty about which species made the earliest known stone tools and what are the minimum biological attributes for stone tool manufacture. According to the “Morphocentric View”, the details of hand anatomy will tell us which fossil species made stone tools; according to the “Neurocentric View”, brain size and structure are the determining factors. Here, we espouse the Neurocentric View, and test it using information about the genetics of the hands and feet. We find that over 91% of the genes which affect the toes also affect the fingers, suggesting that evolution of hominid hands is tied to the evolution of our feet which are adapted for bipedalism. This and other evidence leads us to the conclusion that we must be cautious when using details of hand morphology to understand the origin and development of lithic technology

Keywords

Hominid fingers and toes - Pleiotropy - Neurocentric - Morphocentric - Stone tools

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