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Updated: Feb 5, 2026
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Evaluating the Function of the Foot Core System in the Elderly
Published on: March 11, 2022
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The evolution of the human foot.
Ellison J McNutt1,2, Bernhard Zipfel3, Jeremy M DeSilva1,3
1Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
Evolutionary Anthropology
|September 23, 2018
Summary
The human foot
Area of Science:
- Paleoanthropology
- Human Evolution
- Skeletal Biology
Background:
- The human foot comprises 26 bones, representing a quarter of the human skeleton.
- Early hominin foot fossils are scarce, hindering evolutionary reconstruction.
- Recent discoveries offer new insights into hominin foot evolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current understanding of hominin foot evolutionary history.
- To reassess human foot evolution based on new fossil evidence.
- To explore locomotor diversity in early hominins.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of fossil evidence.
- Analysis of recent hominin foot bone discoveries.
- Synthesis of data on hominin locomotion.
Main Results:
- Despite fossil scarcity, recent finds provide significant data.
- New evidence highlights locomotor diversity in hominin evolution.
- The evolutionary path of the human foot is being clarified.
Conclusions:
- Recent discoveries are crucial for understanding hominin foot evolution.
- The study emphasizes the importance of new fossil evidence.
- Locomotor diversity is a key aspect of human evolutionary history.
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