The Evolution of the Primate Foot, 1st ed. 2022 Anatomy, Function, and Palaeontological Evidence Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects Series

The human foot is a unique and defining characteristic of our anatomy. Most primates have grasping, prehensile feet, whereas the human foot stands out as a powerful non-grasping propulsive lever that is central to our evolution as adept bipedal walkers and runners and defines our lineage.   Very few books have compiled and evaluated key research on the primate foot and provided a perspective on what we know and what we still need to know. This book serves as an essential companion to ?The Evolution of the Primate Hand? volume, also in the Developments in Primatology series. This book includes chapters written by experts in the field of morphology and mechanics of the primate foot, the role of the foot in different aspects of primate locomotion (including but not limited to human bipedalism), the ?hard evidence? of primate foot evolution including fossil foot bones and fossil footprints, and the relevance of our foot?s evolutionary history to modern human foot pathology.

This volume addresses three fundamental questions: 

(1) What makes the human foot so different from that of other primates? 

(2) How does the anatomy, biomechanics, and ecological context of the foot and foot use differ among primates and why? 

(3) how did foot anatomy and function change throughout primate and human evolution, and why is this evolutionary history relevant in clinical contexts today?

This co-edited volume, which relies on the insights of leading scholars in primate foot anatomy and evolution provides for the first time a comprehensive review and scholarly discussion of the primate foot from multiple perspectives.  It is accessible to readers at different levels of inquiry (e.g., undergraduate/graduate students, postdoctoral research, other scholars outside of biological anthropology).  This volume provides an all-in?one resource for research on the comparative and functional morphology and evolution of the primate foot.

FORWARD

INTRODUCTION

1. The Primate Foot: An Historical Account from 19th and 20th Century Anatomical

Research

Authors: Daniel Schmitt and Roshna Wunderlich (order of authors TBA)

(e.g., Laidlaw, Wood Jones, Schultz, Strauss, Lewis, Morton, Weidenreich, Oxnard, etc.)

Section I: ANATOMICAL and DEVELOPMENTAL EVIDENCE (co‐edited by Schmitt and Zeininger)

2. The Primate Ankle and Hindfoot

Lead author: Anne Su (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Cody Prang

3. The Primate Midfoot and Longitudinal Arch

Lead author: Amber Heard‐Booth (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Jeremy DeSilva, Will Harcourt‐Smith, Matt Tocheri

4. The Primate Forefoot: Anatomy, Function, and Intrinsic Musculature

Lead author: Roshna Wunderlich (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Nicole Griffin, Tea Jashashvili

5. The Primate Foot Integument

Lead author: Kai‐Jung Chi (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Daniel Schmitt (confirmed)

Section II: BIOMECHANICAL, EXPERIMENTAL & BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE

(co‐edited by Hatala and Wunderlich)

6. Primate Foot use During Quadrupedal Walking

Lead author: Angel Zeininger (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Roshna Wunderlich, Kristiaan D’Aout, Evie Vereecke, Gilles Berillon

7. Primate Foot use During Bipedal Walking

Lead author: Nicholas Holowka (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Evie Vereecke

8. Primate Foot use During Climbing and Leaping

Lead author: Vivek Venkataramaran (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Jeremy DeSilva

9. Foot Biomechanics and Injury during Running in Humans

Lead‐author: Daniel Lieberman (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Peter Cavanagh

Section III: PALEONTOLOGICAL EVIDENCE (co‐edited by Hatala and Zeininger)

10. The Foot of Early Primates

Lead author: Gabriel Yapuncich (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Doug Boyer (confirmed)

11. The Foot of Subfossil Lemurs

Lead author: Michael Granatosky (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Roshna Wunderlich (confirmed), William Jungers, Laurie Godfrey

12. The Foot of Miocene Hominoids

Lead author: Michelle Drapeau (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: John Langdon

13. The Foot of Early Hominins

Lead author: Jeremy DeSilva (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Yvette Deloison, Bernhard Zipfel, Rob Kidd

14. The Foot of Fossil Homo: Anatomical and Footprint Evidence

Lead author: Kevin Hatala (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors: Matt Tocheri, Will Harcourt‐Smith

Section III: TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS (co‐edited by Schmitt and Wunderlich)

15. Advances in Biomechanical Techniques

Lead author: Evie Vereecke

Potential co‐authors: Kristiaan D’Aout (confirmed)

16. The role of the human foot in non‐locomotor behaviors

Lead author: David Carrier (confirmed)

Potential co‐authors:

17. Effects of Footwear on Walking and Running Biomechanics

Lead author: Catherine Willems

Potential co‐authors: Kristiaan D’Aout

18. How Understanding the Evolution of the Foot can Inform Modern Podiatric Practice

Lead author: Bernhard Zipfel (confirmed) Potential co‐authors: Daniel Schmitt (confirmed)

Angel Zeininger is Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University.  Her work focuses on morphological, experimental, and paleontological analysis of the foot and lower limb of primates, with a special emphasis on development.

Kevin Hatala is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Chatham University.  He studies the fossil evidence for the evolution of primate and especially human locomotion using paleontological, and laboratory and field experimental approaches.

Daniel Schmitt is a Professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University.  He conducts laboratory experiments on limb loading in primates to understand fundamental innovations in primate and human postcranial evolution.