Homo Naledi’s Hands and Feet article review
Anatomy is an interesting branch of science that studies the structural organization of living organisms that began in prehistoric times. Anatomy has several branches, such as human anatomy, that looks into the shape and form of the human body. Among the structure of the human body, the bone is a vital part. The bone is made up of blood vessels, bone marrow, epithelium, bone tissue, and the nerves. Bones are responsible for supporting the body, protecting vital body organs, and enabling movement. Different studies have been conducted on the bone structure and identified how bones developed from prehistoric times. This paper looks into the article, Homo Naledi’s Hands and Feet analyzes and relates the article to the course on bone anatomy.
The article by Grant (2015) discusses the new findings on the fossil remains of Homo Naledi discovered in Johannesburg that highlight how they were adapted to terrestrial and arboreal locomotion. The article is interesting and relates to the course under study. The article looks at the hands and feet, showing the structure of the bones. The hand structure was common to Neanderthals and modern humans, making the adaptations suitable for ancestral and modern life. Besides, the feet show that Homo Naledi was bipedal. The findings are in line with the course and also discuss the functions of the hands and feet of these humans. The hand structure allowed the usage of tools and object manipulation, and the feet allowed movement enabling them to walk upright.
I found the article to be interesting mainly because of its subject matter. The scientists who discovered the bones identified the differences between Homo Sapiens and Homo Naledis. It was amazing for the author to describe the bone structure of the beings and describe their functionality. Although the focus was on Homo Naledi, the author compared the structures to modern man highlighting how the bone structure developed over the years. Homo Naledi existed between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago, which is the most recently discovered human relative. The relative has major similarities with the modern man in the hand and feet structure, making them a very interesting aspect of human evolution.
Initially, I did not know that homo naledis existed. I had the opportunity to learn about the bones and features of Homo Sapiens and Homo Naledi. The lifestyle structure of both these humans uniquely differed. The bone structure was influenced by the type of life they lived. Homo Naledi remains were discovered in caves, and their remains displayed some human and non-human traits. The characteristics are primitive, and life in the cave allowed manipulation of simple tools within the cave system. Homo sapiens, on the other hand, live a completely different lifestyle in homes and use modern tools that they can manufacture. Besides, homo sapiens have no primitive features to limit their functionality.
Anatomy and physiology are two interesting concepts that have numerous pieces of information from researches and case studies. However, such information can not be fully exploited because there exist different undiscovered ideas. The human anatomy is a good example because human evolution makes new discoveries such as the Homo Naledi discovered in 2015. The discovery was accidental by some cavers, and it is not definite to say that all remains of ancient humans have been made. However, extensive reading and continuous research increase the knowledge that we possess on the different branches of anatomy.