Reconstructing locomotor behaviour of Southern African plio-pleistocene cercopithecoids: evidence from functionally-related inner structural arrangement of the trabecular bone
Date
2023-07
Authors
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Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
Because of their abundance in African Plio-Pleistocene hominin-bearing sites and their stratigraphic association with fossil hominins, cercopithecoids represent a relevant “control group” for contextualising hominin evolution. often considered as ecological and biochronological indicators, particularly their ecological sensitivity is valuable in reconstructing southern African hominin bearing site’s palaeoenvironment and environmental changes. Since biomechanical loadings on trabecular bone produced throughout locomotor activities shape the structure of the skeleton, particularly at locomotor key joints, the expectation is that investigation of the trabecular bone of fossil cercopithecoids key joints like femur, humerus, Tibia and calcaneus would provide further evidence for eloquent discreet disparity in their locomotor behaviour and reconstructing their paleohabitats. This study used trabecular bone, described as meshwork or sponge with porous network within long bones joints and inside footbones contains red bone marrow. Its preferred orientation in is the basis of Wolff’s law, relating bone structures and its ability to adapt to mechanical load alignment in the direction of loading stress, as such recoding informative locomotor signals. Forty one (41) fossil cercopithecids from the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage sites that include Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Makapansgat, Taung and Bolt’s Farm as well as forty (40) extant cercopithecoids specimens were scanned using a micro-focus X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner. Trabecular bone parameters that include trabecular bone fabric anisotropy, volume fraction, thickness and spacing were quantified in ImageJ. These Plio-Pleistocene cercopithecoids recorded more arboreal locomotor signals with occasional terrestrial locomotion, suggesting transitional palaeoenvironment from long trees with cool climatic conditions to a more open grass land savanna type with dry climatic conditions believed contributed significantly to extinct of archaic humans and the emergence of the successful Homo.
Description
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (in Palaeontology), to the Faculty of Science, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023.
Keywords
Cercopithecoids, Locomotion, Craddle of Humankind, Plio-Pleistocene,, Palaeoenrironment Trabecular bone, 3D Imaging, UCTD
Citation
Babutsi, Mosarwa. (2023). Reconstructing locomotor behaviour of Southern African plio-pleistocene cercopithecoids: evidence from functionally-related inner structural arrangement of the trabecular bone. [Master's dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/42414