Quantitative analysis of the brachialis and triceps brachii insertion sites on the proximal epiphysis of the ulna in modern hominid primates and fossil hominins

Abstract

In several species of hominid primates with different types of locomotor behavior, we quantitatively studied the insertion sites of the brachialis and triceps brachii on the proximal epiphysis of the ulna. Our main objective was to evaluate the possibility of using the anatomical features of these insertion sites to infer the locomotor behavior of different species of fossil hominins. We measured the area of these muscle insertion sites using 3D bone meshes and obtained the value of each insertion site relative to the total size of the two insertion sites for each of the species studied. We also compared these relative values of the osteological samples with the relative mass of the brachialis and triceps brachii, which we obtained by dissecting these muscles in the same primate species. The relative values for the brachialis insertion were highest in orangutans, followed by bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. Fossil Australopithecus and Paranthropus had values similar to those of bonobos, while fossil Homo had values similar to those of Homo sapiens. The observed similarity in ulnar attachment sites between Australopithecus and Paranthropus and extant bonobos suggest that these hominins used arboreal locomotion to complement their bipedalism. These adaptations to arboreal locomotion were not observed in Homo.