Evidence Of Locomotion Research Articles

First evidence for locomotion in the Ediacara biota from the 565 Ma Mistaken Point Formation, Newfoundland: COMMENT

[Liu et al. (2010)][1] claim to have found the first evidence for locomotion in the form of putative locomotion traces from the Ediacaran (565 Ma) Mistaken Point Formation of Newfoundland. If by first, they mean the geologically most ancient evidence of animal locomotion, they should have discussed

First evidence for locomotion in the Ediacara biota from the 565 Ma Mistaken Point Formation, Newfoundland: REPLY

First evidence for locomotion in the Ediacara biota from the 565 Ma Mistaken Point Formation, Newfoundland: REPLY

Metacarpal trabecular architecture variation in the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes): Evidence for locomotion and tool‐use?

Trabecular architecture was assessed by 3D micro-computed tomography from spherical volumes of interest located within the head and base of metacarpals (MC) 1, 2, and 5 from n = 19 adult common chimpanzees. Two subspecies, West African Pan troglodytes verus from the Taï Forest, Côte d'Ivoire (n = 12) and Central African P. t. troglodytes from Cameroon (n = 7), were studied. For the combined sample, the metacarpal head is distinguished by greater bone volume fraction across all metacarpals, though the MC 1 is distinctive in having thicker, more plate-like trabeculae. The architecture in the MC 2 and MC 5 can be related to strains associated with terrestrial knuckle-walking. In particular, the relatively robust MC 5 head architecture may result from functional loading incurred during braking and use of a palm-in hand posture. Examining differences between samples, we found that the Cameroon chimpanzees possess a more robust architecture across all metacarpals in the form of greater bone volume fraction, higher connectivity, and somewhat more plate-like structure. These differences are not explicable in terms of population distinctions in body size or daily travel distance, but possibly reflect a combination of more terrestrial knuckle-walking in the Cameroon sample and more diverse hand postures and precision handling required of nut-cracking in West African chimpanzees.

First evidence for locomotion in the Ediacara biota from the 565 Ma Mistaken Point Formation, Newfoundland

Evidence for locomotion in the Precambrian fossil record is scant. Reliable Ediacaran trace fossils are all younger than 560 Ma, and consist of relatively simple horizontal burrows and trails from shallow-water deposits. Here we describe an assemblage of macroscopic locomotory traces from deep-water environments at Mistaken Point, southeastern Newfoundland, Canada, dated to ca. 565 Ma. These trails extend the record of complex trace fossils back into the earliest Avalonian biota. Our new evidence for large motile organisms on the seafloor at this time suggests that at least some of these early Ediacaran organisms, whose biological affinities are widely debated, could have been muscular and of metazoan grade.