Abstract
The differences in the ‘biological roles’ and in correlated structural adaptations of the hands of geladas and baboons are demonstrated. The hands of geladas show a suite of peculiarities which appear to be connected with their locomotor as well as with their ‘grass-plucking’ habits. In a second part, the long standing problem of nails and claws in primates is reviewed. An abnormal extra-pollex of an old female Cebuella is described and discussed. The relatively flat nail of this small extra-finger is distinctly broader than the ‘claw’ of the adjacent thumb. This find is interpreted as an ‘atavistic recapitulation’ and thus as a further indication of the secondary derived nature of callithrichied claws.
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Maier, W. (1993). Adaptations in the hands of cercopithecoids and callitrichids. In: Preuschoft, H., Chivers, D.J. (eds) Hands of Primates. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6914-8_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6914-8_12
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