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Updated: May 15, 2026
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Estimation of Contact Regions Between Hands and Objects During Human Multi-Digit Grasping
Published on: April 21, 2023
Getting a grip on tetrapod grasping: form, function, and evolution.
Diego Sustaita1, Emmanuelle Pouydebat, Adriana Manzano
1Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 N. Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT 06269-3043, USA. diego.sustaita@uconn.edu
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
|January 5, 2013
Summary
Grasping, or the ability to hold objects, is common in tetrapods, not just humans. This widespread trait evolved independently across many lineages, highlighting its evolutionary importance.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Comparative Anatomy
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Human grasping is considered unique, but grasping behaviors are observed across diverse tetrapod groups.
- Anatomical features supporting grasping, like digits and musculature, are present in most tetrapods, though some, like opposable digits, evolved multiple times.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence, functional morphology, and evolutionary history of grasping across major tetrapod clades.
- To understand the convergent and divergent evolutionary pathways of grasping adaptations in tetrapods.
Main Methods:
- Comparative anatomical review of grasping-related structures in four major tetrapod clades.
- Analysis of functional morphology and ecological factors influencing grasping.
- Examination of evolutionary patterns and selective pressures shaping grasping.
Main Results:
- Grasping with manus (forepaw) and pes (hindpaw) is more prevalent and evolutionarily significant in tetrapods than previously recognized.
- While some grasping features are shared tetrapod traits, others like opposable digits evolved independently multiple times.
- Morphological and ecological factors vary, but similar selective forces likely drive grasping evolution.
Conclusions:
- Grasping ability plays a crucial, underestimated role in the evolutionary success of numerous tetrapod lineages.
- Further research into tetrapod grasping can reveal deeper insights into evolutionary adaptations and diversification.
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