In the human, it is used for fine precision grip used for writing while also providing functions like the power grip which would be used to hold an umbrella. The human hand is made up of 7 carpals, 5 metacarpals and 5 phalanges (Mary, 2000). The human hand differs to that of other mammals in its prehensile abilities via the opposable thumb, a specialised primate trait (Wood et al, 2015). The variation over the hominid and ape species is due to biocultral and niche adaptations yet they still have similar anatomical structure. Macroevolution is a large-scale evolutionary change over a long time period, or major evolutionary changes over a short period (Stanford et al, 2013). An example of this can be demonstrated by the difference in the hands of the modern human and Australopithecus afarensis. A. afarensis is known to have lived between 2.9 and 3.9 million years age. The paleoanthropological evidence of these hominids hands resembled that of an arboreal species. The fossils show curved proximal phalanges suggesting adaptation for suspensory and climbing movements where the ability of the power grip was essential for arboreal survival (Stern, Susman,
In the human, it is used for fine precision grip used for writing while also providing functions like the power grip which would be used to hold an umbrella. The human hand is made up of 7 carpals, 5 metacarpals and 5 phalanges (Mary, 2000). The human hand differs to that of other mammals in its prehensile abilities via the opposable thumb, a specialised primate trait (Wood et al, 2015). The variation over the hominid and ape species is due to biocultral and niche adaptations yet they still have similar anatomical structure. Macroevolution is a large-scale evolutionary change over a long time period, or major evolutionary changes over a short period (Stanford et al, 2013). An example of this can be demonstrated by the difference in the hands of the modern human and Australopithecus afarensis. A. afarensis is known to have lived between 2.9 and 3.9 million years age. The paleoanthropological evidence of these hominids hands resembled that of an arboreal species. The fossils show curved proximal phalanges suggesting adaptation for suspensory and climbing movements where the ability of the power grip was essential for arboreal survival (Stern, Susman,