Cortical structure of hallucal metatarsals and locomotor adaptations in hominoids.

ABSTRACT: Diaphyseal morphology of long bones, in part, reflects in vivo loads experienced during the lifetime of an individual. The first metatarsal, as a cornerstone structure of the foot, presumably expresses diaphyseal morphology that reflects loading history of the foot during stance phase of gait. Human feet differ substantially from those of other apes in terms of loading histories when comparing the path of the center of pressure during stance phase, which reflects different weight transfer mechanisms. Here we use a novel approach for quantifying continuous thickness and cross-sectional geometric properties of long bones in order to test explicit hypotheses about loading histories and diaphyseal structure of adult chimpanzee, gorilla, and human first metatarsals. For each hallucal metatarsal

SUBMITTER: Jashashvili T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4311976 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature