The relative lengths and weights of metacarpals and metatarsals in baboons ( papio hamadryas)

Abstract

The lengths and weights of metacarpals and metatarsals were measured in two collections of baboon skeletons—33 animals, all born and raised in the wild, and 60 animals, nearly all born and raised in captivity. For both length and weight, ratios were constructed for all possible pairings of the five bones in each individual hand and foot. The pattern of results was not identical for the two collections, but substantial sex differences existed in both collections for many of the ratios calculated. Nearly all of the large sex differences were in the direction of the length or weight ratio being smaller for males than for females. For the length ratios showing the largest sex differences, those differences were larger for the right hand than for the left, and larger for the left foot than for the right, but this pattern was less evident for the weight ratios. Some length ratios for human fingers show sex differences of the sort seen in the metacarpals and metatarsals of these baboons, and the human differences in relative length exist early in life. The implication is that the marked sex difference in androgen exposure during prenatal development may effect the relative size of the individual bones of the extremities in male and female humans and baboons. The relative sizes of the bones of the hand and foot may provide helpful supplemental information on the relations between species, thus making the study of hand and foot bones in other primates and mammals worthwhile.