Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [507]
In studying the most complete A. afarensis foot, AL 333-115 from the First Family group, Stern and Susman (1983, p. 306) found that the proximal phalanges (the bones at the base of each toe) had a “strikingly pongid morphology.” This was true in terms of both their length and curvature.
Susman, reporting the conclusions of an investigation into the curvature of proximal phalanges in a variety of apes, stated that the chimpanzee and bonobo, or pygmy chimpanzee, had “the most curved toe bones of any ape plotted” (Susman et al. 1984, p. 125). And the proximal phalanges of AL 333-115 were “more curved than in the average bonobo” (Susman et al. 1984, p. 125). In other words, A. afarensis was apparently more apelike, in this respect, than any of the living apes. Human proximal phalanges are nearly straight.
Like the proximal phalanges, the other toes bones of A. afarensis also displayed apelike features. Altogether, the long, curved toes of A. afarensis, accompanied by powerful grasping muscles, would have been well suited for arboreal behavior.
Susman concluded: “at the very least the small individuals should have been able to grab with their toes as well as 2-year old children grab with their fingers. The large Hadar individuals probably could use their toes for simple grasping as effectively as considerably older human children use their fingers. . . . the strength of the grip may have well exceeded the strength of hand grip in young humans” (Susman et al. 1984, p. 124). Lending support to this conclusion, the A. afarensis fibula (the smaller of the two bones of the lower leg) was quite robust, indicating the presence of powerful muscles for flexing the foot (Susman et al. 1984, p. 124).
According to Johanson, Latimer, who was opposed to arboreality, concluded that “afarensis was an exceptionally strong walker, and that its elongated toes may have been of service to it when moving over rough stony ground, or in mud, where some slight gripping ability would have been useful” (Johanson and Edey 1981, pp. 345–346).
Stern and Susman (1983, p. 308) found this notion “untenable,” observing that “curved toes are found only in species that engage in arboreal behavior.”
Stern and Susman (1983, p. 308) further stated: “There is no evidence that any extant primate has long, curved, heavily muscled hands and feet for any purpose other than to meet the demands of full or part-time arboreal life.”
Another apelike feature of the A. afarensis foot can be found in the hallux, or big toe. Studies by Susman showed that the A. afarensis hallux could be extended sideways, like the human thumb (Susman et al. 1984, pp. 137–138).
The hallux of A. afarensis was relatively smaller than that of some arboreal primates, causing Latimer to suggest that A. afarensis was not well suited for climbing trees. But Susman pointed out that the highly arboreal gibbon also has a small hallux (Susman et al. 1984, p. 137). Altogether, the picture that emerges of the afarensis foot is extremely apelike—a foot with long, curved, fingerlike toes and a highly mobile, thumblike big toe.
Tim White, one of the promoters of A. afarensis, has responded negatively to attempts to characterize Lucy as fully, or even partially, arboreal. White stated: “We are wary of this approach which makes the interpretive leap from curved phalanges into the trees” (White and Suwa 1987, p. 512). As we have seen, wariness is always required in approaching empirical treatments of human origins and antiquity. But we should perhaps be more wary of the interpretive leap from curved phalanges out of the trees, since greatly curved phalanges in extant primates are an exclusively arboreal adaptation. This is especially true of curved phalanges existing in combination with an upward pointing shoulder joint and other signs of arboreal capability.
From the toes, let us now move on to the A. afarensis ankle, including its