Variability and the form-function framework in evolutionary biomechanics and human locomotion
Date
2022
Authors
Murray, Alison A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Evolutionary Human Sciences
Abstract
The form–function conceptual framework, which assumes a strong relationship between the structure of a
particular trait and its function, has been crucial for understanding morphological variation and locomotion
among extant and fossil species across many disciplines. In biological anthropology, it is the lens
through which many important questions and hypotheses have been tackled with respect to relationships
between morphology and locomotor kinematics, energetics and performance. However, it is becoming
increasingly evident that the morphologies of fossil hominins, apes and humans can confer considerable
locomotor diversity and flexibility, and can do so with a range of kinematics depending on soft tissue plasticity
and environmental and cultural factors. This complexity is not built into traditional biomechanical
or mathematical models of relationships between structure and kinematics or energetics, limiting our
interpretation of what bone structure is telling us about behaviour in the past. The nine papers presented
in this Special Collection together address some of the challenges that variation in the relationship
between form and function pose in evolutionary biomechanics, to better characterise the complexity linking
structure and function and to provide tools through which we may begin to incorporate some of this
complexity into our functional interpretations.
Description
Keywords
Biomechanics, human evolution, bipedalism, kinematics, functional morphology
Citation
Murray, A. A. (2022). “Variability and the form-function framework in evolutionary biomechanics and human locomotion.” Evolutionary Human Sciences, 4, E29. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2022.28