Ameline Bardo

HCA hierarchical cluster analysis MCA multiple correspondence analysis MFM manipulative finger movements OG other grips PCA principal component analysis PCG precision grips PMG palm grips SEM standard error of the mean TL thumb lateral WT without thumb 1 INTRODUCTION Food processing may require multiple and various abilities, ranging from powerful action to more precise manipulations.

Abstract Fossil endocasts record features of brains from the past: size, shape, vasculature, and gyrification. These data, alongside experimental and comparative evidence, are needed to resolve questions about brain energetics, cognitive specializations, and developmental plasticity. Through the application of interdisciplinary techniques to the fossil record, paleoneurology has been leading major innovations. Neuroimaging is shedding light on fossil brain organization and behaviors.

Abstract The human lineage is marked by a transition in hand use, from locomotion towards increasingly dexterous manipulation, concomitant with bipedalism. The forceful precision grips used by modern humans probably evolved in the context of tool manufacture and use, but when and how many times hominin hands became principally manipulative remains unresolved.